


Fish Out of Water

by ShadowDrifter



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Mermaid, Angst, Broken Families, Comedy, Coming of Age, Cute, Fluff, Lee Jeno is Whipped, M/M, Mentioned NCT Dream Ensemble, Mermaid!Jaemin, Mermaids, Romance, There is sometimes more angst than fluff its who i am, only a little
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-07-05 04:44:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15856473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowDrifter/pseuds/ShadowDrifter
Summary: Jeno’s quiet life on O'ahu is soon flipped upside down when he, Renjun, and Donghyuk catch something they never expected. While overcoming the fact mermaids are real, they uncover their own secrets and, somehow, the boy with a tail finds a way to bring them closer than ever before in their last summer together. And, maybe Jeno falls in love with a fish.





	1. Hooked On You

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing it!  
> Enjoy~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing it!  
> Enjoy~

“Why did I agree to do this?” Donghyuk groaned, arm slung over his eyes as the boat rocked on the waves. The boy had tucked himself away under the roof that jutted off the back of the yacht’s main cabin, trying to hide from the ocean around them.

Renjun shrugged, neither him or Jeno feeling any remorse for the boy’s sick state. “You’re the one who begged to come,” Renjun pointed out, not taking his eyes off the water where his fishing line disappeared.

“Well _yeah_ . Jeno made it sound like we were going to party on a huge expensive yacht.” Jeno reeled in his fishing line a little, allowing the boy to rant. “You guys are mental if you think this is _fun_.” Donghyuk gestured at the fishing poles before letting his head hit the bench with a whimper. “I’m going to vomit all over this expensive leather chair.” Jeno hoped that wasn’t a threat.

“You only tried fishing for like ten minutes, Hyuk,” Jeno retorted, looking at the boy over his shoulder. “Maybe if you tried it longer you’d like it.”

Donghyuk laughed. “Wow, Jeno! Why didn’t _I_ think of that?” Donghyuk snapped, gesturing at the ceiling vigorously. “I’m sure staring at the waves will help _loads_ with my nausea.” Renjun snorted next to Jeno.

“How were we supposed to know you would get seasick?” Jeno muttered, kicking his feet up on the railing again once he was satisfied with his adjustments to his fishing line. “Also, I never said anything about a party. _I said_ I work at the docks to make sure rich peoples yachts don’t get damaged and shit and I do favors for a couple of them and in return, I can take their expensive yachts out on the water and asked if you wanted to join. I _never_ said anything about a party. Do you know the type of debt I would be in if I broke this thing?” Jeno sent Donghyuk a look, meeting the scowling boy’s eyes. He wasn’t joking either. The yacht was like a fucking water penthouse. It was covered in polished oak on all _three_ floors of the 60-foot luxury yacht, sporting a generous bar, plush bedroom and decked out lounge area. It was even custom built to have a special fishing deck on the back, the floor slightly sunken and a wall-like guardrail built to keep fish from escaping. He would be ruined if he broke _anything._

“Oh, _whatever_ . If you’re rich enough to name a million dollar yacht _Fish Sticks,_ It must mean they probably have four yachts—at the very least!” Donghyuk protested. “You know who names a yacht _Fish Sticks_ ?” They looked at him, mouths clenched as they tried not to snort. “ _Assholes_ .” Finally, they broke out in a fit of laughter. “I’m serious! _Guys_ ,” Donghyuk said even as a smile grew on his face. “Who—” he snorted but continued, “who doesn’t want to get fucked up on the _SS Fish Sticks_ ?” He gasped, “Dude, _Fish Dicked_ on the _SS Fish Stick_.” Jeno had to throw his hands out to stabilize himself as he almost fell over from laughing at the childish jokes.  

Renjun wiped his eyes as he calmed down. “I just want fish sticks now…” He complained, Jeno nodding and chuckled in agreement as the boy frowned at the water.

Donghyuk sat up, seeing an opportunity. “You know what’s _way_ better than fish sticks?” They stared at him, anticipating whatever bullshit would come out of his mouth. “Those bottles of expensive looking booze at the bar.” They turned back to the water. “Come _oooon_ . There was _champagne_ from like 1992 in there you can’t buy that shit at the liquor store.” Jeno shook his head a little, sighing. “It would be so nice out here. It would be _something_ ,” Donghyuk tried.

Jeno adjusted his fishing line again. “ _One bottle_ of that liquor is as much as your college tuition, so unless you plan to literally drink your college plans away I wouldn’t open it.”

Donghyuk groaned loudly, thudding back against the bench. “Fucking _Je-no fun_.”

“If we don’t catch anything within the next hour we’ll head in,” Jeno bargained, look at the empty bucket.

“Next _hour_ ! We’ve been out here the _whole_ day, Jeno.”

“It’s been _maybe_ an hour, Hyuk.”

“Uh-huh… well I don’t know what clock you—”

Renjun screamed and they both turned to him, surprised. “I caught something!” Renjun squealed.

“Jesus _Christ_ Jun, I thought there was a shark or something!” Donghyuk was clenching his chest, taking deep breaths.

Jeno jumped up to help as Renjun innocently watched the line zip out of the reel. “Actually,” Renjun said, “we’re more likely to be struck by lightning—”

“—then attacked by a shark, _we know_ ,” Donghyuk finished. Renjun didn’t seem to hear him, practically bouncing up and down as Jeno yanked at the line, gripping the fishing rod tightly. “Maybe you’ll catch the fish sticks your craving,” Donghyuk teased to deaf ears.

Jeno grunted as the rod was jerked. “It’s either really big or really strong.”

Renjun was almost leaning over the railing as he searched the water. “Please be really big!”

“That’s what she said!” Donghyuk quickly supplied, jumping up to high five someone, but neither noticed. “I’m not Mark, someone has to high five me or I’m literally never putting my hand down.” Renjun spun around, giving him the high five he needed and dabbed. “Renjun what the _fuck_.”

Instead of answering Renjun left him in confused despair, smiling at the water. Despite all of Donghyuk’s complaining, Jeno could feel his eyes on them, curious. Jeno was out on the water in expensive yachts more than one would expect as a security guard, but practically being raised on the water Jeno had an expansive knowledge of boats. This had aided him in also becoming the maintenance man, taking peoples summer yachts out to make sure they were still working and even changing parts for free, which put him in the owners’ good favor. So Jeno usually just used the yachts to impress people, who he could be found making out with in the yacht’s lounge as soon as he dropped anchor. Other days he would sit alone and fish on them, preferring the yachts over disturbing the dust on his dads little fishing boat in their garage.

However, today Jeno had finally caved and brought his friends again. Though it was Donghyuks first time, Renjun had been out with him before but never fishing. Fishing was Jeno’s “thing” Renjun had pointed out when he said he wanted to learn. Jeno’s father had been a fisherman so naturally, Jeno had picked it up. Whatever Renjun caught, though… it might be bigger than anything Jeno had every hooked.

After fighting for ten minutes, sweat beading on Jeno’s forehead, it finally seemed to tire. Donghyuk had gone back to playing on his phone by then and Renjun was playing with the worms they had collected earlier, bored. When Jeno alerted them he was bringing it in they perked up. Leaning over the railing, they all watched as a large form drifted toward them. “Awww.” Renjun deflated as a tangled fishing net surfaced, the bulk of it disappearing beneath the deep blue waves.

“HA!” Donghyuk pointed at it with a snicker. “Nice catch buddy, that’ll feed the family for _weeks_.”

“Shut it,” Renjun grumbled, frowning.

Jeno hummed as he leaned over to grab it. “Something was fighting…” He removed the hook and lifted some of it over the railing with a huff. “Hyuk, can you help us? It looks like it could have broken off a fishing boat. We should get it out of the water to make sure no sea life gets tangled in it. I think…” Jeno peered into the water, eyes catching something shimmering in the depths, the net was simultaneously tugged from below. “Shit, something _is_ caught in it.” He grabbed the net and hauled as much as he could.

Donghyuk jumped up, having seen enough documentaries in school to know this shit was a serious problem. Plus, who wouldn't want to be the local news for saving a dolphin or something? The three of them began hauling it foot by foot. “What’s caught in this thing?” Donghyuk asked between labored breaths, “a _whale?_ ”

As they pulled the massive net more and more, the animal resisted, thrashing violently and making everything just that much harder. “Could be a couple sea turtles or a dolphin, maybe a tiger shark,” Jeno thought out loud, panting.

“A _shark_?” Donghyuk screeched, jumping away from the net. Jeno and Renjun stumbled forward, almost losing their balance as they net yanked them forward. They both yelled at him over their shoulders until Donghyuk whined but came back to help, just further from the railing.

The shimmering was getting closer and Jeno could almost make out an orange-colored fin. Could be a dolphin, but it was starting to look more like a really big fish with all the sparkling. Jeno grabbed the large knife in the bucket next to his feet, ready to start cutting as the animal got closer and closer to them. Jeno saw a large orange and pink scaled tail, net wrapped around it in what was probably a very painful fashion. The rest of the animal was to covered for him to make out. “We need to bring it on the boat, it’s too tangled to cut like this,” Jeno ordered.

“You said it could be a _shark_ though,” Donghyuk whined.

“I don’t know what it is…” Jeno admitted, setting down the knife so he could grab the net with both hands, ignoring how the plastic bit into his skin. “On three. One. Two…” They all grunted as they yanked it, almost slipping on the wet deck as the net cascaded over the side of the boat. They stumbled away.

The animal struggled and the _thwack_ of its tail filled the boat as it flailed. The three boys stared at it, utterly dumbfounded. The large fin at the end of its tail reflected the lengthy ribbonny beauty of a betta fish, but as their eyes trailed up the long sunset colored tail, scale quickly turned to pink flesh at its hips. Jeno’s whole world seemed to tip as he found his gaze trailing up a torso and meeting with a blue-eyed human boy.

“Holy fuck, that _is not_ fish sticks,” Donghyuk breathed as they all seemed to realize what they had caught. “Is that a _merman_ .” The fucking _merman_ ’s eyes flicked to Donghyuk at his exclamation and the fish boy froze, taking them all in.

After a moment the merman began to thrash, even more than before—if that was possible—but the net was so tangled around him that his arms were trapped at weird angles to his body and his tail was bent. They all backed up, eyes locked on the unbelievable sight.

“What the _frick_ do we do?” Renjun asked over the squelching noises, looking at Jeno for guidance.

Jeno was thinking as he looked at the...animal? Person? Creature? Fucking _merman_. “We… should help?”

There was a long silence as they all considered _how_ to help. “Dude, what if we, like… kept him in a tank though?” Donghyuk asked. They both turned to him, mouth gaping. He looked between their disgusted faces. “I’m _joking_ .” He put his hands up in defense. “Just throwing it out there… as a _joke_.”

Jeno turned back to the merman, swallowing as he realized the strange predicament they were in. While they watched, the merman’s movements slowed as it pushed its face against the net, gaping for breath as it’s fingers pulled uselessly at it’s fabric prison. “We have to help him,” Jeno decided, stepping toward it.

The merman saw him approaching and opened his mouth, hissing loudly through two sharp canines. Jeno froze, cautiously looking over the surprisingly threatening merman. Who he noted looked young, its light brown hair cut short, but the net distorted its face too much for Jeno to tell.

“He doesn’t seem to want it,” Renjun pointed out, both of them still as far away as possible.

“Yeah, uh,” Donghyuk shuffled toward Jeno, trying to pull him back without actually getting any closer. “Don’t mermaids seduce sailors and then drown them? Are you sure we should do anything?”

“That’s a _fairytale_ Hyuk, this is real life,” Jeno said, smacking his hand away. Panic began to take hold as the merman coughed loudly, movement’s weaker and erratic.

Donghyuk looked at him, eyes wide, “so were fucking _mermaids_ a second ago, Jeno.”

_True._

“Look,” Jeno said, “we need to do _something_. He—It’s suffocating.” He gestured at the merman, who was, in fact, looking quite pale. They stared at him, frozen. “Fine,” Jeno grunted. They yelled at him in a panic as he stomped over to the merman, stepping over its tail to grab a bucket. The merman was hissing at him again and Jeno quickly jumped out of the way before he could get smacked. Out of the merman’s range, he dipped the bucket in the water, filling it quickly before running back over to the creature that was now coughing violently. While it was distracted hacking Jeno dumped the bucket of water on its torso, unsure how it breathed or where any gills would be.

The merman’s coughing subsided as it lay its face against the wet deck, its chest rising and falling easily again for the time being. Jeno thrust the bucket into Renjuns arms, “keep doing that.” The smaller boy nodded, eyes wide, but he did as he was told. Jeno whipped around to Donghyuk, “grab the knife in my tackle box and help me.” Jeno didn’t give him time to complain, already looking for his own knife. He found it under one their chairs, having been kicked away at some point. With the large military bayonet in hand, Jeno stared at the scene in front of him.

The merman, able to breathe again as Renjun threw water at it from a distance, had begun to fight again as well. Its tail was the biggest threat, since most of it was free enough to probably deal some serious damage. How were you supposed to restrain a half-man-half-fish creature?

As Renjun threw another bucket of water at it Jeno saw his opportunity and dived forward. He grabbed the back of the things shoulder and forced its chest to the deck, throwing a leg over its waist and straddling the merman.

It _did not_ like that.

Jeno had to put all his weight on the thing to keep it from trying to buck up, but that didn’t stop it from wriggling beneath him, slamming its tail against the side of the boat and growling. “Stop!” Jeno said between clenched teeth as he grabbed the net and using the serrated side of the knife to cut it. “I’m. Trying. To. Help. You!”  

Once Jeno had began getting the hang of it he heard Donghyuk faintly over the sound of blood pumping in his ears. “What am I supposed to do?” Donghyuk asked, holding Jeno’s other knife as if he was afraid of it.

Jeno was going to answer but he was suddenly doused in water. “Oh… Sorry,” Renjun winced, the empty bucket at his side.

Shaking his soaking hair out of his face and spitting out water Jeno pointed behind him. “Both of you should work on freeing the tail, if we’re quick hopefully it won’t suffocate.” The two exchanged a worried glance but he soon heard them snapping at each other as they fought the merman's tail to the ground.

As he was cutting, with little progress, he noticed that the things right shoulder was bruised and purple. Having experienced it himself, it only took Jeno a second to recognize the merman’s shoulder was dislocated and must have been for some time with all that bruising.

He couldn’t do anything about that now so he inspected the rest of the merman’s back as he worked, the thing still thrashing. As he removed more and more of the net he quickly noticed that the merman had no visible gills. It probably functioned like a dolphin then, coming up for air. But... _then why couldn’t it breathe now?_ Jeno wondered, working a little faster when the merman began coughing again.

The merman must have been completely exhausted because it slowly stilled, face turned on its side as it coughed. They had no idea how long the thing had been caught in the net and it probably had been trying to get free the whole time, plus it had fought furiously when they caught the net and now it had been struggling endlessly out of the water. The boy had already been fighting longer than most would.

Jeno could work much faster now that it had calmed down and he found himself whispering to it, trying to keep it calm. “We’re trying to help you,” Jeno whispered, talking like he did to the children he would babysit from time to time. “We won’t hurt you.” _Does it even know English?_ Jeno looked at its face as he cut. If it was possible the merman looked Asian, if Jeno wanted to throw a shot in the dark he could bet East Asian. Jeno knew he must look ridiculous, but tried to speak in his broken Korean skills anyway, curious. “ _Help… I help you_.” What was the point of being able to understand a language if he couldn’t even say a single sentence? It didn’t do anything anyways, the merman’s eye was just on him now.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Donghyuk asked. “Was that _Korean_?”

“I thought it might speak Korean.” Jeno shrugged, back still turned to them.

“Is that racist?” Renjun asked.

There was a beat of silence as they all cut.

“I don’t think so... I mean, Jeno and I are Korean,” Donghyuk settled on. “And, it’s not human so—”

“Oh my god…” Jeno muttered, blown away they could still bicker in this situation.

“—I don’t know if cross-species racism is a thing. Like, can a mermaid even _be_ Korean?”

“Why can’t he be Chinese?” Renjun challenged. Donghyuk hummed as if Renjun had purposed a very thought compelling dialogue. Jeno sighed, just glad they were talking _and_ cutting. Renjun suddenly spoke in a long string of Mandarin.

“What did you say?” Donghyuk asked.

“I asked if he thinks eating fish sticks would be cannibalism.”

“Now that’s _definitely_ racist in _some way_.”

Jeno wanted to scream. “Can you guys _stop_ and just cut in silence, _please_.”

“Did he not respond to my Mandarin?”

The merman was just trying to peer at Jeno from its awkward position, its face still pressed to the floor because of Jeno’s unrelenting pressure to keep it turned around and on the ground, gaze unwavering with the one visible eye. “No it didn’t. Keep cutting.” Jeno’s eyes flicked to the merman’s when he could spare a glance, enthralled. The one he could see was an endless sapphire blue, and uncomfortably human as it looked him over.

Jeno wondered if the merman realized they were trying to free it, or maybe it was keeping a close eye on him so as soon as it was free it could attack him. Its expression was almost worried, eyebrows drawn down, which Jeno hoped was a sign of hesitance and not aggression.

Their gaze was severed when the merman’s whole body shook with a violent fit of coughs again. “Shit, just another minute.” Jeno grabbed a huge handful of the net and sawed through it. The merman wriggled and Jeno helped pull the net away from it so it could free its left arm. Hopefully, that wasn’t a bad idea…

Jeno panicked for a second as it tried to lift itself up, but it couldn’t get very far, the heavy net still around his neck. It lifted its chest off the ground and Jeno watched as it hacked up water, drops running down its chin.

If it was like a dolphin maybe it had actually been drowning? But the water earlier had helped it… “There are no gills, do you guys think it can breathe underwater without them?” Jeno asked over his shoulder. Its tail was almost free, but Jeno noticed the net had bit into its flesh, cuts had become visible were scales were torn away, blood mixing with the water on deck like ink on wet parchment.

“Maybe,” Renjun said, grunting as the merman tried to lift its tail. “That would make sense since it seems unable to breathe air like a dolphin can. Humans have _technically_ breathed underwater before, but it’s only when it’s pure liquid oxygen. It’s usually very painful when you get out though because you have to cough up all the liquid in your lungs. That could be why it’s coughing, but…” Renjun seemed to think. “Maybe mermaids can actually _separate_ the oxygen in water particles! Like gills, but in their lungs?”

“There’s oxygen in water?” Donghyuk asked, sounding lost.

“H2 _O_ , dumbass,” Jeno said.

There was a huge sigh. “You guys are making me look like a fucking fool in front of this merman,” Donghyuk complained.

Renjun snorted, “no one is doing that but yourself.”

“So,” Jeno stopped them before it could go any further. “Maybe it’s trying to cough up the water in its lungs?”

“I don’t know, it seems rather inconvenient. It would make more sense if mermaids just came up for air,” Renjun pointed out.

“But, then someone would have a video of them by now or _something_ ,” Donghyuk retorted. “It would make sense how they stayed a secret if they never had to come to the surface at all.” They all nodded, agreeing.

Jeno had almost freed the merman’s neck and shoulders when Donghyuk raised a question. “How do you think the idea of a siren’s call came about then? It’s not like _no one's_ seen a mermaid before with all the lore. If they're coughing up a lung just to breathe how the fuck do they sing? How else would they seduce sailors?”

Jeno ripped the knife up and the last strands snapped, freeing the merman’s torso completely. Before Jeno could do anything, the merman twisted a little to lock their gazes. “By their beauty.” He felt his breath leave as he could clearly make out the boys strikingly handsome face, his sapphire eyes seeming limitless as Jeno looked into them. He felt like he could drown in their watery depths.

“What did you say?” Donghyuk asked, but he never got an answer.

Jeno felt as if he was floating, eyes glazed over as he leaned forward, having to angle his head so to compensate for the mermans strange position. When his lips connected with the merman’s he felt his body flush with heat. The mermans lips were cold and salty, but plush. _Perfect,_ Jeno thought as he kissed the merman.

Jeno was completely oblivious to the screeches of his friends as the merman took advantage of Jeno’s loosened grip, throwing them off with one strong whip of its tail. They barely broke the kiss as the merman spun around, chest facing the enchanted human.

Jeno felt warm and weightless as the merman propped himself up on his elbows, fluttering its eyelashes before going back into the kiss. Jeno closed his eyes, completely enraptured in the best make-out session of his life. He wrapped an arm around the merman drawing him closer, the boy snaking his good arm around Jeno’s waist as their kiss deepened. The merman worked his mouth open and Jeno ran his tongue along the unusually long canines of the merman, completely absorbed.

He didn’t even realize someone was pulling him until their lips disconnected, his entire world falling apart in that moment. Jeno tried to free himself, but they had a vice grip on his arm as they dragged him away. The merman fell back to the deck, landing on his hurt shoulder with a yelp, eyes wide. Jeno kicked and whimpered, desperate to get back to the merman, to hold him. The heartbreak was mutual, the merman’s eyes brimming with tears as they stayed locked with his—until suddenly their gaze was severed.

Jeno felt as if something had been tragically broken, but before he could process a hand came down and smacked his cheek roughly. Jeno blinked, stars dancing in his vision for a moment. “Ow!” he protested, glaring at Donghyuk, who had climbed on top of him. “What the fuck was that for?” Jeno asked, dazed and angry.

“You were just making out with a fucking _fish_ Jeno! What were we supposed to do?” Donghyuk screamed, obviously very disturbed.

“Was I?”

“Hit him again,” Renjun ordered heartlessly, still holding his arms over his head.

“Wait—!” Jeno protested, but he still got slapped. His cheek stung and he felt light-headed. “ _Stop_! I’m fine!”

“That’s what someone _seduced_ would say,” Donghyuk said, raising his hand again.

“ _STOP!_ ”

They all froze.

So very slowly, all heads turned to the merman. The boy’s eyes were wide, breathing as if in a panic. He quickly retracted his outstretched hand, looking at all of them nervously. He seemed just as surprised as them though, lifting a hand to his throat and blinking in confusion.

“You can _talk_?” Jeno asked, looking over the merman. They got no answer, the merman just kept looking at Donghyuk’s raised hand and Jeno, brows furrowed in worry.

Renjun whispered, “Dude, put your hand down you’re stressing him out.” Donghyuk complied after looking between Jeno and the merman a couple times. “Maybe he just learned ‘ _stop_ ’?”

Donghyuk nodded in appreciation, still sitting on Jeno’s chest. “That’s impressive.”

“Can you let go of me?” Jeno asked as they both stared at the merman.

Donghyuk turned to him with a frown. “You’re not gonna kiss the fish boy again?” He integrated, squinting at Jeno suspiciously.

“I didn’t even realize I was doing it…” Jeno admitted. “I-I can think properly now.” At least he _hoped_ he could. He had fallen into it so easily before, it was kind of scary. Surely Donghyuk had been right about mermaids being able to seduce people because Jeno hadn’t even considered kissing the merman till he suddenly… just did it.

Even though Jeno was freed they all just sat there, staring at the merman. Most of the net was gone and the creature (man?) was in full view. Jeno couldn’t help but to  take him all in.

He had been bent and tangled before, but now that the merman was able to lay to his full length it was rather breathtaking. His tail could easily be twice as long as his human half, and it looked like a piece of artwork. Jeno could now see his tail sported many fins—unlike the mermaids he had always envisioned. The boy had a short spiny dorsal fin along the back of his tail as well as ribbony fins on either side of where thighs would be, but nothing compared to the large colorful fabric of his caudal fin that was now fanned out around the end of his tail. His scales were a beautiful sunset orange base color with a gold stripe-like pattern along the sides of his tail, his betta like fins tinted yellow and pink, creating a fantastic ombre of colors if Jeno had ever seen one. The merman’s scales slowly faded at his hip as it became human skin, his body slim, but well toned. His face was still the most breathtaking, though, and Jeno had to force himself to look away. He was definitely young, or at least he _looked_ young. If mermaids aged the same way humans did Jeno would say he might be their age, give or take a few years.

Jeno also noticed for the first time some sort of belt around the swell of the merman’s hips. The rough looking material holstered to his tail brandished a fierce-looking white blade, which he entertained the thought of it being buried in his back if his friends hadn’t yanked him back. Something in the merman’s face made him want to believe that hadn’t been the intention though. His second thought was that the knife meant the boy was definitely intelligent, that all mermaids were intelligent.

Holy fuck. _Mermaids are real_.

He had been so focused before, but now that he really looked at it all it seemed absurd. “There’s a fucking _merman_ on our yacht,” Jeno breathed. “I just _kissed_ a fucking _merman_.”

“Yeah, not your best moment buddy…” Donghyuk muttered. _Mermaids are real_. Jeno had to close his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. His mind helpfully supplied a very vivid memory of sitting with his father on their porch, his dad telling him some epic story about meeting mermaids when fishing out on the Pacific during a storm. At that time Jeno had thought all his father's fantastical stories were using mermaids as a metaphor, but now… who knows?

“What do we do now?” Renjun asked.

Jeno opened his eyes and stared at the merman. _Good question._ Jeno was surprised when he met the merman’s gaze and the boy just smiled brightly, cutely flapping his tail a little. Jeno’s heart definitely _did not_ skip a beat. “I guess we should get the rest of the net off him,” Jeno said. He was relieved the merman seemed to be breathing fine now at least, it might make it a little less stressful.

“Yeah, but _how_ ?” Renjun asked. “After your _salty smooch,_ I’m not entirely sure it’s safe.”

“We can’t just leave him,” Jeno said, gesturing at the clueless merman. “He can only kiss one of us, so it’s not like we can’t do it with the three of us.”

“You really want to kiss the fish don’t you,” Donghyuk sighed.

“That’s not—”

Renjun patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. Don’t fight the truth, Jeno.” As always, their teasing was relentless.

“If you're a Scaly now that’s your own thing, bro,” Donghyuk said, giving him a fake sympathetic look.

“Can we just… oh my god,” Jeno sighed. Having known them for years, Jeno knew better than to try to fight the mocking.

Jeno got up without a word and walked toward the merman, ignoring his friends’ protests and kneeling next to him. The merman flicked his tail again, brows furrowed as he brought a hand up to Jeno’s cheek, ghosting over the angry red mark blooming on his face. Jeno held his breath, to scared to move as the man's fingers gently scraped along his skin. The merman looked him over with a frown, and as if sensing Jeno’s fear, retracted his hand.

It took Jeno a moment to realize he wasn’t about to be seduced or attacked. Instead, the merman had propped himself up on his good arm and was watching Donghyuk and Renjun closely. His eyes flicked to Jeno as soon as his knife was visible again, but the merman didn’t move as he leaned down and began working on the net tangled around his waist and hips.

Jeno noticed something around the merman’s neck and paused for a moment to admire it. It was a necklace of abalone shell and pearls, its centerpiece a large shark tooth with an intricate carving he couldn’t make out. The merman noticed him staring and wrapped a hand around it defensively, so Jeno went back to cutting.

With every line cut loose the merman seemed to become more nervous, eyes shooting to all of them. Donghyuk and Renjun backed away as they finished and Jeno found himself facing the merman again as he cut the last string. The merman chewed his bottom lip as he looked down at himself, flapping his tail again. Jeno couldn’t bring himself to leave the merman’s side as the boy’s face cracked into a wide smile, wiggling his tail with a little giggle.

Jeno sat straight as a stick when the merman turned to look at him. He let the merman grab his hand and watched in a mix of fear and curiosity as the boy brought the palm of Jeno’s hands to his lips and placed a chaste kiss at the base of his thumb. He felt that flash of warmth once again before a breathless sensation washed over him. As if all the air had evacuated his lungs he gasped, his whole body tingling. Then nothing.

When the merman let him go he slowly turned his palm over, unsure what to expect after having such a weird reaction. He was dazed to find a small cluster of gold swirled were the merman’s lips had been. “What is it?” he asked, hoping it wasn’t bad. The merman just smiled, obviously having no idea what he said.

“You’re really tempting fate there Jeno,” Renjun said from behind them.

“Hmm?” Jeno turning to look at them. “Oh, I’m not being seduced he just gave me a… mark?” He showed them, shrugging.

Donghyuk shook his head, sighing. “Jeno you’re such an idiot you were probably just poisoned or something.”

“I feel fine—” Jeno suddenly choked dramatically, holding his throat. Their eyes all went wide with panic before Jeno snorted. “Just kidding, I’m fine.”

“Jeno!” Renjun snapped, huffing loudly.

Jeno just chuckled, feeling a tug on his shirt. The merman was looking at him with wide worried eyes and Jeno realized he must have scared the boy as well. “I’m fine,” he said, smiling. The merman seemed unsure but didn’t make any moves.

“Dude!” Donghyuk groaned. “Stop smiling at the fish. How many times do I need to slap you?”

Jeno rolled his eyes, “Calm down. He’s just very… human. It’s hard not to smile.” He looked down fondly at their merman. Maybe some of the seduction magic or whatever hadn’t totally worn off…

His smile faded when the merman’s face suddenly contorted and the boy clutched his shoulder, wincing a little. “He’s hurt, what do we do?” Jeno thought out loud, just watching the merman take deep breaths, blinking rapidly. “Should we just… throw him back in?”

“Wow you seem eager to get rid of your merman boyfriend, didn’t know you were that type of guy Jeno,” Donghyuck _tsk_ ed. He rolled his eyes. It was quite the opposite if Jeno was being honest with himself. Maybe it was echoes of the seduction magic or something, but the idea of getting rid of the merman made him sad. How many people had met a merman? Once they parted ways Jeno was sure they would never see another mermaid ever again. Surely it would feel more like a dream than anything else.

His thoughts were interrupted by the _click_ of a photo being taken. Jeno looked up to see Donghyuk was taking a selfie, peace sign and all, with the merman and Jeno positioned in the background. “Nice…” the man whispered, smiling.

“Dude…” Jeno scolded.

“Wait, let me get in there,” Renjun crouched in the background and threw up a shaka sign. Jeno glared at the phone as another picture was taken, he sighed loudly.  

“What? Who else in the whole world has _ever_ taken a selfie with a merman?” Donghyuk defend, putting away his phone with a satisfied grin.

“Isn’t that dangerous? What if the FBI finds it or something?” They blinked at Jeno owlishly. “Whatever, look,” Jeno said, “I think his shoulder is dislocated. I’ve never fixed that type of thing… and if it’s been like that for—god knows—how long, It might not be safe to do ourselves.”

“Well,” Donghyuk scoffed, “I don’t know about you, but I don’t know any fish doctors personally…” Though he was joking, he had a point. They couldn’t exactly take him to a hospital or a vet, and he was _sure_ the merman would resist. It was a dead end. Jeno had no idea how to help.

The merman groaned suddenly, dragging their attention back to him. Jeno had failed to notice that the merman had become significantly more worked up, eyes squeezed shut and breathing labored. He was in pain. The adrenaline must have worn off because the boy seemed to be feeling the full force of his injuries all at once. Jeno wasn’t sure, but the very human sounds of agony were sending a chill down his spine.

“What do we do?” Renjun’s voice was strained as he looked helplessly at the merman, his previous indifference seeming to have disappeared. Jeno’s hands hovered in front of him uselessly as the merman groaned loudly, rocking gently.

“Uuuuh guys.” They looked at Donghyuk and followed his pointed finger to the merman’s tail.

“Holy shit!” Jeno yelped, jumping away from the merman. Jeno could barely believe his eyes as the boy’s fins began to recede and form toes, his scales retracting into pink skin as he whimpered. Jeno quickly caught on to what was happening before his very eyes.

_One tail was splitting into two legs._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn't tell, the merman is Jaemin.  
> Couldn't get that in this chapter because, of course, it has to end in a cliffhanger ;)
> 
> Honestly, I thought this would be a cute one shot but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ guess we're getting a whole story because I love NCT Dream and Nomin. 
> 
> If you want updates or want to see my other fics check out my twitter:  
>  @Shadowdrifter2 
> 
> I'm super curious to see if you guys like this type of story so **leave a comment and let me know!** I'm _so_ nervous. I don't do a lot of comedy type things so please let a sister know T^T  
>  I would also love your best fish pun! It's _very_ important, I swear, lmao.  
>  Leave some kudos and love! I hope you have a great day~


	2. Lure Me In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh Jeno, finally bringing a boy home?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the boat's size from 100ft to 60ft luxury yacht because it was too crazy big. It's a significantly smaller boat now. (Yet the ship still sails;))  
>  **Also, there are now * (asterisks) next to words to indicate an annotation for the word at the end of the chapter.** Please look at these for explanations while reading!
> 
> This chapter is fairly long, but I hope it's enjoyable~

What had started so suddenly came to a close just as quickly. A scale-covered tail was nowhere to be found and in its place was now a pair of legs. The merman was now a complete human. Jeno didn’t dwell on the fact that the handsome _merman_ had turned into a handsome _naked human_ , too busy having his mind blown.

The boy sighed in relief, the transition appearing to have been causing him the most discomfort. The moment didn’t last for long though. The used-to-be-merman’s blue eyes opened again, flicking to their faces before following their gazes.

There was a beat of silence, the only sound the lap of waves against the hull. Then screaming.

The boy looked at his legs in horror, voice cracking as he pressed himself against the railing as if trying to get away from his own feet. There was a moment of mutual confusion and shock before the merman seemed to register what had happened, the cry dying in his throat as he froze.

The three of them exchanged a look as the boy reached out a hand and gingerly touched his legs, his shoulders relaxing as his eyes became wide. His mouth formed an ‘O’ as he stroked his scratched legs, tucking them closer so he could touch his toes curiously, wiggling them. Jeno noticed the similar gold pattern that had been on his tail was now like a tattoo on his upper thighs and hips, much more defined in it’s swirling pattern. The boy grinned a little, eyes flashing to them and seeming to silently compare their anatomy to his own.

“ _Dude_ ,” Donghyuk breathed, breaking the silence. “That’s so _cool_.”

Renjun screeched in protest, “No it’s _not_ . Do you know what this means!” He pressed his hands to the side of his head, distraught. “There could be mermaids _living_ with us _right now_!”

The merman looked at them, eyes wide as they yelled, curling in on himself. “Guys, calm down, we don’t want to scare him,” Jeno said gently.

“Scare _him_ ?” Renjun hissed. “He’s scaring _me_.” He pointed at himself.

Jeno ignored him, realizing his knees were aching from sitting on the rough textured ground of the fishing deck, so he scooted a little closer and sat criss-cross in front of the merman. “Jeno,” he pointed at himself.

Renjun whined a little. “Are you giving it an English lesson?”

Jeno ignored him, watching the merman’s eyes flick to his finger and his face as he repeated his name again. “Jeno, I’m Jeno,” he explained. He turned his finger to Renjun who frowned, “Renjun.” He heard the boy mutter about not giving consent to have his name given out to fish boys with questionable intentions.

Donghyuk leaned over Jeno’s shoulder and furiously jabbing himself in the chest, “Dylan.”

Jeno looked up at him, scowling. “Give him your real name, dude.”

Donghyuk shrugged. “He doesn’t have to know that _isn’t_ my real name.”

The merman had been silently watching them and Jeno had no idea if he actually was catching onto what they were saying or not. Jeno pointed at everyone again, giving their names. Donghyuk protested when his real name was supplied, but after Jeno slapped his leg he stopped. Finally, Jeno pointed at the merman, curious.

The merman perked up, his good arm wrapped around his knees as he looked at them with wide eyes. “Maybe mermaid culture isn’t as developed as our society,” Renjun suggested, but Jeno was sure that wasn’t the case. He had learned ‘stop’ already after all. “They could communicate like animals and not even have names, recognizing each other through scent or—”

“Na,” the merman suddenly said, instantly shutting Renjun up.

“Na?” Jeno asked again while Renjun and Donghyuk both froze and the merman smiled at him.

The merman mimicked Jeno, pointing a finger at his chest, “Na.”

Jeno nodded, “your name is Na.” He couldn’t help shooting Renjun a smug look.

“Oh come on, you can’t tell—”

“E...eno?” the merman pointed at Jeno, his voice clearly raised in question.

“ _Je_ no,” he supplied. After a couple more attempts the merman succeeded, though the ‘j’ was still too soft, Jeno called it a win. When he gave the merman a smile and thumbs up, he looked at Jeno’s hand and copied the motion, grinning back.

Donghyuk scoffed. “It's so unfair that Jeno gets _all_ the cute boys. He’s not even a human!” He gestured at Na, shaking his head.

Renjun crossed his arms, “now there are two idiots who want to kiss the fish? _Unbelievable_.” The merman followed their conversations as if he was watching a tennis game, going back and forth as they bickered.

“Come on, he’s super handsome.”

“He’s a _fish_!”

“That’s _racist_.”

Jeno rolled his eyes, drawing Na’s attention back to himself when he pointed at the merman’s dislocated shoulder and mimed pain, trying to ask if it hurt. Na looked at the arm that he was holding close to his body and back at Jeno, blinking. Jeno did the motion again and spoke on top of that, “does it hurt? Pain?”

“Pain?” Na echoed, looking at his shoulder and trying to move it, hissing. “Pain.”

“Wow, It sounds like he’s agreeing,” Donghyuk said. “I think he’s catching on to English.”

“Are you guys not scared by how quick he’s learning?” Renjun asked, still standing a few feet back.

Na pointed at Renjun, looking at Jeno for confirmation. “Scared?” Na gestured between himself and Renjun. Jeno nodded and Na frowned, seeming to grasp what the word meant. Na pointed at himself, “scared.” They all studied him silently, the boat rocking gently as Jeno felt his heart tighten a little. He could barely imagine what the merman was feeling, how foreign everything must be. He could understand Na’s fear, but he didn’t see why the merman wasn’t still trying to flee.

“We should take him to a hospital,” Jeno decided, looking at the others.

“ _What_?” Renjun gaped at him.

“Look at him.” Na looked like he had gotten the shit beaten out of him, his legs cut up and still bleeding, his shoulder busted, and bruises blossoming all over his body from when he had been struggling. Despite all this the boy was still curiously touching his toes, giggling. “We _have_ to help him.”

“There is no way we can take him to a hospital, Jeno,” Donghyuk said, taking Renjun’s side. _Traitor_.

Jeno squeezed his eyes shut, thinking hard. “Oh!” Na jumped, surprised by the exclamation. “What about your family friend? uh...Johnny?” Jeno looked up at Donghyuk’s disgusted face.

“He’s _not_ a friend. I only know him because he used to ‘babysit’ me,” Donghyuk used aggressive air quotes. “But as soon as Taeyong got back from work they would make out in the living room, _ugh._ ”

“Ew.” Renjun stuck out his tongue.

“Exactly, I would rather not.” Donghyuk crossed his arms.

“But, Hyuk, isn’t he a doctor at Kaiser?” Jeno prodded.

He huffed, “he’s not a doctor _yet_.” Jeno held out his hand persistently, gesturing for Donghyuk to give him his phone. “What? No!” he turned away. Renjun swiftly took the device from his back pocket and handed it to Jeno. “Hey!”

Jeno opened the phone, having secretly put in his fingerprint years ago. He scrolled through Donghyuk’s contacts as Renjun held the man back, ignoring all the emojis in people's names and hoping the guy’s name wasn’t in code or something. “Bingo.” Jeno found a ‘Seo Johnny’ with a vomit emoji next to it. He noticed Donghyuk had texted him. “‘I just ate a whole bag of those candy corn things, will I die?’” Jeno read out loud, laughing.

“That is _private_!”

Jeno checked the time— _1:37—_ hopefully, he was free. He quickly dialed the number, holding it to his ear.

It only rang for a moment before Johnny picked up. _“Hello…?”_

“Johnny! Do you have time to talk?”

 _“Yeah, sure, what’s up Dongsookie?”_ Jeno looked at Donghyuk, mouthing the nickname with a frown. Donghyuk shook Renjun off, just glaring instead.

“Hey, it’s actually Donghyuk’s friend—Jeno. We, uh, met at Taeyong’s birthday party. Donghyuk’s here as well—”

_“Oh, Jeno! Hey, dude! How’s swim team? Taeyong told me you’re the fastest— “_

“Yeah, it’s all good. Hey, look. I have something… uh…” Jeno glanced at Na, who was looking around the boat with curious eyes, “ _life or death_ to ask of you.”

 _“Oh?”_ He sounded hesitant, obviously exposed to Donghyuk’s shit before.

“We have this friend and he’s uh, _suuuper poor_.” Jeno winced, Renjun shook his head at Jeno’s bad excuse. “He doesn’t have insurance and can’t even afford a doctors appointment—”

_“Wait, stop right there. Is this a medical emergency? You guys understand I can’t meet a patient like that—”_

“Johnny, he’s bleeding, _a lot._ ” Jeno wasn’t lying either, the water of the deck had become a misty pink color.

_“What happened?”_

“He, uh…” Jeno looked at his friends for help. Donghyuk was just standing there, stubbornly ignoring them, but Renjun tried to help.

“He fell off a ledge… on-onto rocks,” Renjun said into the phone and shrugged.

“Uh, yeah, what he said. It’s _real_ bad Johnny. He doesn’t speak very much English either. It’s a real mess.” Jeno waited with baited breath as he heard Johnny sigh over the phone.

_“And you want me to help because I’m a Med student?”_

“Uh, yes.” Jeno sighed. Med Student? Oops, that would have to do. “I don’t know what else to do… You’re our only hope.” He didn’t mean to use the guilt trip card, but he also wasn’t lying.

_“You understand I can’t give him any prescription drugs. I don’t have a license yet, and even if I did I still couldn’t if this is undocumented.”_

“That’s fine, any help would be a miracle. His injuries are pretty bad, we have nowhere else to turn. Please...”

The line was silent for a long moment and Renjun and Donghyuk, who had leaned in to listen were both holding their breaths. _“Fine.”_ They silently pumped their fists in the air.

“Thank you so much!” They quickly told him where to meet them at and after confirming a time they hung up. Jeno sighed in relief, handing Donghyuk back his phone. “See, we _can_ help.” Jeno gloated.

Donghyuk rolled his eyes, snatching his phone back. “Now we just have to work around the fact that he’s _naked_.” Donghyuk pointed out.

Jeno jumped up, scaring Na again. “Sorry,” he said to the merman who just blinked at him. He turned to Renjun, “give me your shorts.”

Renjun looked like a meerkat, “what.”

“The swim shorts I know you packed.”

“Oh.” The Chinese boy laughed awkwardly.

While Renjun shuffled off Jeno began unbuttoning his shirt. “Woah, do I need to slap you again?” Donghyuk asked, raising surprised eyebrows.

“He needs a shirt,” Jeno responded simply. Na was looking up at him, watching every single button pop with an intense gaze. Jeno tried to force down the blush as the merman looked over his chest boldly. When he finally took it off the merman gaped at him a little. Jeno had been working out more this year, but he wasn’t sure it was gaping worthy.

“ _Dude_ ,” Na said, echoing Donghyuk almost perfectly. There was a moment of silence and then Donghyuk threw back his head and started cackling. Na looked at him, confused what was funny. Jeno smiled as well, amused by the merman’s English. As Donghyuk slowly sunk to the ground laughing Jeno kneeled in front of the merman to carefully move him so he could wrap the floral button-up around him.

Na was tense as Jeno touched his good shoulder, trying to guide it into the sleeve. Jeno didn’t want to hurt his other arm any more so he just wrapped the shirt around his right arm, buttoning it up but leaving enough room for his bad arm to poke through, also acting as a pretty shit sling. Na looked at the shirt with a frown, shuffling around and lifting his good arm as if testing it.

“What’s he laughing at?” Renjun asked as he returned, a folded pair of swim trunks in his hand.

“Na’s newest word is ‘ _dude’_ ,” Jeno explained, grabbing the shorts as Renjun watched Donghyuk roll around on the ground.

Na helpfully repeated after listening to them, sending Donghyuk into another fit of laughter. “Cute,” Renjun said simply and Jeno knew the merman was growing on him as well.

Jeno stood up again and held out his hand for Na, who just looked at it. Jeno gently grabbed his hand and tugged a little, trying to signal what he wanted. Na looked at them all standing, and then himself again. He let go of Jeno to instead grab the railing and slowly pull himself up. His legs shook and Jeno kept his arms out to grab Na if he started to fall. Jeno wondered if mermaids could normally turn human, and if this was Na’s first time because his face lit up when he finally stood.

“Good,” Jeno encouraged, smiling.

“You’re doing great sweetie,” Donghyuk teased, finally having calmed down. As soon as Na let go of the railing, he stumbled, and Jeno instinctively grabbed him. Na tried to stabilize himself with Jeno’s help, but tripped again and quickly wrapped his arm around Jeno’s neck, clinging to him. Jeno had to hug Na close to properly support him, trying to ignore the way his neck and ears were heating up.

“Sorry…” Na whispered, looking up at him. Jeno couldn’t help smiling, impressed at how quickly he was learning.

“It’s okay,” Jeno told him, adjusting so Na could try again. After a minute or two the merman was able to stand without help, still a little wobbly. It was much easier to get the swim shorts on than the shirt, Na seeming to understand the concept of clothing.

“He looks like a train wreck,” Donghyuk said, chuckling. The blue shorts and orange floral shirt did not mix well. On top of that, Na’s hair was beginning to dry and stick up in strange directions.

Jeno shrugged, smirking at Donghyuk. “He’s dressed like you in the first year of high school.”

“Honestly, fair.” Donghyuk nodded while Renjun laughed loudly. Jeno grabbed the bucket that was on the floor and began throwing water on the deck, trying to wash away the blood. Na quickly grabbed his belt and knife where it had slipped off him so it wasn’t washed away, holding it close to his chest.

“We should go. Can someone pull anchor.” Jeno ordered as he continued to splash the floor.

“Aye, Aye Captain!” Donghyuk and Renjun chorused mockingly, meeting each other eyes challengingly before turning and racing up the stairs to the bridge to reach the button first. Jeno snorted as he set down the bucket.

“Come on,” Jeno held his hand out, waiting for Na to take it. When the merman’s cold fingers grasped his he carefully pulled the boy along, wincing as he stumbled a little while still getting used to his legs. As soon as they climbed the stairs to the flying bridge* on top of the ship, Jeno found his sunglasses and dramatically snapped them open, sliding them onto his face and looking out at the water as he turned the key on the dash, warming the engine up. Na’s grip tightened as the boat roared to life.

“Our Captain is _so_ cool,” Donghyuk joked, noticing his bullshit sunglass stunt. Renjun snorted next to him, both of them lounging on the seat that lined the railing in front of the dash, backs turned to the bow. Jeno only smiled, letting go of Na’s hand to drive. He watched Na out of the corner of his eye as he flipped a few switches before slowly pushing down on the throttle, the boat setting into motion. Na stumbled back, falling into the Captain's seat, eye’s wide and curious as he looked at all the buttons on the dash before his gaze fell on the ocean all around them.  

Waves sent sunlight dancing around the bridge as they swiftly cut through the water. The ocean seemed like an endless blue sheet all around them and O'ahu a slumbering animal keeping it all from flying away. They were pretty far out, only a couple other boats in sight, which was a turn of good fortune. If someone had seen them wrestling with a merman who knows what could have happened.

As Jeno sped up, wind ripped over the bridge, tousling all their hair. Renjun let out a happy _whoop_ , turning in his seat to face the bow of the ship with his hands over his head. Once they were at a constant speed Na stood up, having to close his eyes against the force of the wind. Jeno watched out of the corner of his eye as the merman leaned into the wind, his hair whipping around his face and Jeno’s floral shirt puffing out around his form. Na began laughing, teeth showing in his full mouth smile, mimicking Renjun’s weird noises. Jeno turned up the music on the radio— _brown eyed girl_ by _Van Morrison—_ as they cruised, watching Na more than he should while driving.

Sadly his GPS soon warned him he had entered the commercial zone and had to slow down. Na frowned a little as the wind died and Jeno badly wanted to risk a speeding ticket but decided against it.

“Do you think we should make a cover or something?” Donghyuk said with his head on Renjun’s shoulder.

“A cover?” Renjun repeated. Everyone had to almost shout to get heard over the wind and boat.

“If someone asks what’s up with our poorly dressed, almost mute, and socially clueless friend.” Donghyuk gestured at Na, who was trying to press buttons on the dash while Jeno was gently guided his hand away from it. “Don’t you think the guard on duty will notice we left with three people and returned with four?”

Na finally seemed to get the message and instead just grabbed Jeno’s arm, pouting. “Jeremy won’t care, but if he asks we can say we picked him up at a different pier or something,” Jeno assured as he turned the boat port side to make their way along the island’s northeastern coast, the green mountains swallowing their whole view to the starboard side.

“What if someone asks where he’s from? We can’t say the ocean.” Donghyuk argued and Renjun hummed in agreement. “Why don’t we give him a background or something so we all have the same story in case we’re separated.”

Jeno chuckled, “you're making it sound like we’re criminals Hyuk.”

“I don’t know, maybe we are. ‘Mermaids’ aren’t on the list of fish we can keep once caught.” They laughed and Na smiled cluelessly. Donghyuk continued, “but it doesn’t hurt to be safe.”

“You seem pretty well versed in elaborate lies,” Renjun teased.

Donghyuk preened in what he decided to take as a compliment, hand pressed graciously to his chest. “I pride myself in such matters.”

“Okay, why don’t we say he’s your cousin or something?” Jeno suggested, glancing at Donghyuk. “We could make it a my-foreign-family’s-visiting situation.”

“Why not _your_ cousin?”

“It would be weird since we kissed… I guess?” Jeno supplied awkwardly, not wanting to have to panic if it happened again and explain around their cover. It wouldn’t happen again, though. That was a _one time_ mistake. Not that he really had control over it since Na _did_ seem to have some type of power... Jeno looked back at the water, cheeks pink.

“Okay whatever,” Donghyuk waved away. “So he’s _my_ cousin—”

Renjun cut in, “wait that makes him Korean.”

The taller boy shrugged, “so?”

“ _So_ , I thought you said it would be racist to assume his ethnicity.”

Donghyuk sighed, “yeah, but we need _some_ sort of cover.”

“He could be _my_ cousin.”

“Yeah, but I’ve decided Na is Korean,” Donghyuk said simply.

_“What?”_

“We outnumber you, so if he’s getting a backstory it’s a Korean one.”

“Unbelievable,” Renjun scoffed.  

“Plus, Na is a Korean name already. So if we needed to give him a full one it would make more sense,” Donghyuk retorted.

“Bold of you to assume Americans would know the difference,” Renjun shot back.

“This is _O’ahu_ , most of the Americans here _are_ Asian.”  

Renjun opened his mouth but just ended up huffing out a sigh. “Touché.”

Na looked at them owlishly. “Korean?” the merman repeated.

Donghyuk helpful explained while Jeno was busy driving, “it’s an _ethnicity_.” Na attempted the word, working it around his mouth for a couple seconds. Donghyuk pointed at himself and Jeno, “Korean.” He pointed at Renjun over his shoulder with a thumb, “idiot.”

“Oi!” Renjuns old British accent slipped through as he put an arm around Donghyuk’s neck and wrestled him into apologizing. Since they were smiling Na also did. Renjun had originally studied English in China and when he was angry the posh accent he was taught in would slip out, and Donghyuk would only call his teasing a success when that happened.

When Donghyuk was free he pointed at Na, “Korean,” he said slowly. Renjun scoffed. Na raised an eyebrow and gestured at himself, repeating the word with confusion. Donghyuk gave him a thumbs up and Na beamed at the praise. Donghyuk taught him how to introduce himself and Renjun caved, helping as well. Jeno felt a little bad he was getting lessons from the three of them as it was bound to be an absolute disaster.

“What about his lack of any language?” Jeno pipped in. “Don’t you think Johnny will ask? He speaks Korean, right?”

“Whatever, we can say he’s shy or something. Johnny’s an idiot.”

“He’s literally a med student, Hyuk,” Renjun chuckled. Donghyuk rolled his eyes, not bothering with a retort since his opinion was entirely feelings based anyway.

They decided that was enough cover for now and fell into silence until _1985_ by _Bowling For Soup_ came on the radio and Renjun and Donghyuk began singing along passionately.

They were soon pulling around Diamond Head and suddenly the Honolulu skyline appeared before them. Na gasped and leaned forward, eyes sparkling. For Jeno, it was a normal sight, but Na’s enchanted expression made it almost brand new. He tried to see it through the merman’s eyes. The skyscrapers rising like towering square trees out of the beach, hundreds of windows sparkling in the midday sun; clusters of massive yachts harboring the early summer tourist and partygoers lining the blue coast.

Na pointed at it, not taking his eyes away from the skyscrapers. “City.” They looked at him, surprised. When had he picked that up? “Name?”

“ _Honolulu_ ,” Jeno said, watching as Na silently repeated it to himself, wide eyes taking in the huge city. Jeno tried to imagine what it must be like, seeing it all for the first time if you’ve never even been on land before.

He wondered what Na’s life had been like thus far. What did a mermaid do in their free time? Does he know his mother? Had he ever seen a human before... There was so little he knew, so much he would probably never get to know. He wasn’t entirely sure what Na thought they were doing. Did he understand they were helping him or was he just entranced by the new experience? How soon would Na leave once they had helped?

Jeno _definitely_ still had some sort of spell cast on him, he decided. Maybe mermaids seduced everyone around them just a little, all the time. Or maybe Jeno was just a lonely teenager and Na was a cute mystery. At this point, he couldn’t tell.

The Yacht Club quickly came into view and Jeno slowed down to a snail's pace as they entered the forest of towering masts and white boats. Jeno parked the huge boat expertly and Renjun ran down the stairs to tie it down before Jeno turned off the engine. Na was glued to the spot, leaning over the dash to look up at all the masts, slowly scanning until he spotted the land. Na turned to Jeno, wide-eyed.

“Come on.” Jeno gently grabbed the merman’s hand, making sure it was okay to do so before tugging him down the stairs. Na had slung his kelp belt around his chest and the sheathed blade gently tapped Jeno’s side as the merman walked close to him. They locked up the boat and Jeno helped Na onto the docks, Donghyuk and Renjun struggling with the tattered net and fishing gear.

Jeno held Na’s hand tightly, worried the merman might run now that he realized they were heading for land, but the boy was just craning his neck to look up at the tall buildings right next door. The security guard, Jeremy, raised a judgemental eyebrow at Jeno’s shirtless state and their clasped hands from inside the small security building. Even though Jeno brought a lot of girls _and_ boys out on the yachts with him, his and Na’s current state was way more suggestive than any of his actual hookups. Jeno knew at his next shift he would hear an offhand, _“I suspected, but didn’t know you swung both ways, Lee.”_ He just forced a smile and slid the older man the keys for the SS Fish Stick, exchanging a quick _Aloha_.

Donghyuk and Renjun were busy stuffing the huge net in the trash bin in the parking lot when he was done, eventually giving up and setting the lid on top of the mound uselessly.

Na had crouched down to touch the grass while they waited, pulling up strands of it and sniffing curiously. Na plucked a dandelion, twirling it in his fingers before handing it to Jeno without looking. “Thank you.” Jeno took it, grinning like a fool at the weed. When Donghyuk and Renjun walked by them Na stood up, frowning when Jeno was just holding the flower. He took it from Jeno’s hand and gently placed it over his ear, giving a thumbs up. Jeno chuckled, herding the curious merman toward the car.

Donghyuk spun his car keys around his fingers as they made their way over to his pride and joy, a dark blue 1969 Mustang Convertible. Jeno remembered the year that Donghyuk had bought the old thing and made his crush, Mark, help him fix it—even though Donghyuk probably knew more than Mark about cars. Jeno had spent a good handful of his own time on it as well, somehow ending up helping whenever they hung out. Jeno wasn’t afraid to admit he was a little jealous.

“Hop in gays, I wanna get this over with,” Donghyuk huffed, swinging the door open and moving the passenger seat forward so Jeno and Na could climb in the cramped back. Na seemed suspicious of what was happening, scooting a little closer to Jeno. The merman jumped when Donghyuk revved the car’s loud engines and grabbed Jeno’s arm as the roof of the convertible opened, but as soon as they got on the road Na leaned forward, pressing his face next to the passenger seat as the wind flew through the open car. Na’s eyes were like saucepans as he looked around at the city, waving at everyone whenever they stopped at a red light.

Na’s head whipped around when they soon left the city, watching as the skyscrapers quickly disappeared around a bend. One side of the road became a dense jungle while the other was an open view of the pale blue ocean. Na practically climbed over Jeno to look at it, flopping back in his own seat when the view disappeared behind houses.

They soon pulled in front of Donghyuk’s house, which was a small one-story cottage with an inviting turquoise paint and a crowded garden that poured over the half fence in the form of creeping grape vines. “Shit,” Donghyuk breathed, looking at the early 2000s grey Toyota parked in the driveway next to Jeno’s yellow 1999 Jeep Wrangler. “Taeyong must have had a short class today.”

“Taeyong’s cool, it’ll be fine,” Renjun said, hopping out and moving the seat so Na could follow, Jeno simply hopping out of the open car. “I mean what’s he gonna do? Kick out a stray? _Ha._ ” They all knew Taeyong had more motherly instincts than some actual moms.

“You haven’t witnessed his overprotective side enough I see,” Donghyuk grumbled, locking the car. “Hyung we're home!” Donghyuk yelled as he swung open the door.

“Who’s ‘we’re’?” Taeyong asked in Korean, his voice carrying through the house. Taeyong often spoke in Korean around the house, having spent twelve years of his life in Korea before their family immigrated. Donghyuk said he barely remembered Korea at all, but he was more fluent than Jeno ever had been.

“Uh… ya know, the gang,” Donghyuk side-stepped the question while making sure everyone's shoes went on the rack. When they filtered into the kitchen and living room Jeno realized Na wasn’t with them and found him looking at the pictures on the wall of Taeyong and Donghyuk, there were even a few of Jeno. Na followed as soon as Jeno grabbed his hand. The merman seemed mesmerized by the building, looking up at the tall slanted ceiling of the main room, the exposed beams giving the old house a more modern flare.

Donghyuk’s house might as well be Jeno’s, he was in half their family photos after all. He spent more time here than at his own house, even having a bed and dresser just for himself. Jeno hadn’t really realized he was sort of living there until he started listing Taeyong as an emergency contact and leaving most of his clothes here. At Jeno’s house it was just him most of the time, so when Taeyong invites him over for dinner he usually ends up staying for a week. This time he hadn't been home for a couple weeks.

In return for the space, Jeno had been slowly remodeling the cottage, by doing small things such as fixing the squeaky boards. Soon he would run out of things to fix, the cottage only consisting of two bedrooms, one bathroom, a closet/laundry room and the large room they stood in now that harbored the living room, kitchen, and a small dinner table. It was enough for the two brothers and himself though, and Jeno was eternally grateful they let him stay. Taeyong started telling him it felt too empty when Jeno was sleeping at his own home.

The wall of windows along the main room revealed Taeyong on the porch, lounging in a deck chair with a straw hat laying over his face. Taeyong’s garden had even taken over the back deck, tomato vines growing up the supports for the overhanging roof and strawberry plants ready to drop their fruit right at their feet. Taeyong was very adamant about the therapeutic benefits of gardening and Jeno was so well trained at this point that he would automatically pick any weed he saw. Jeno had no problem with it, it was free food after all.

The sliding door was open and hip-hop music playing softly on the speaker in the kitchen. Donghyuk poked around the kitchen, opening up the stove to look at what was cooking. “Don’t even think of touching that Mahi Mahi,” Taeyong warned, not needing to look to know what the boy was doing. Renjun chuckled, though he didn’t know what Taeyong had said, his message was pretty clear as Donghyuk frowned, closing the stove and leaning against the counter.

“Johnny should be here soon, right?” Donghyuk opened his phone, checking the time. Jeno shrugged, busy keeping an eye on the merman. Na was touching the short wall that divided the living room and hall to the bathroom and laundry room, seeming to be inspecting the structure itself after investigating every vase and photo on top of it. They probably didn’t build houses underwater, Jeno theorized as the merman crouched down, picking at some sandy colored wallpaper that was peeling off.

“Johnny’s coming over?” Taeyong asked, his hat falling in his lap as he sat up. Taeyong, a dance teacher on the weekends, was still in shorts and a loose tank top from class. The older man only then noticed it wasn’t only Donghyuk and Jeno present and quickly stood up. “Oh, hey Junnie!” He easily switched to English as he trotted inside, going over to quickly kiss the Chinese boy’s cheeks in greeting. “And… Jeno, who’s shirtless?” Taeyong pointed out, raising an eyebrow. Jeno shrugged as Taeyong greeted him as well.

Na froze as he met eyes with Taeyong, the oldest just noticing the stranger that was still crouching next to the wall. The boy looked at Jeno, unsure what to do. Jeno gestured for him to come over and the merman drifted toward them, eyeing Taeyong warily. “Aloha,” Taeyong said with a friendly smile. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Taeyong, Donghyuk’s older brother.” Taeyong held out a hand, eyes flicking to the merman’s scratched legs and the strange gold patterns peeking out the bottom of his shorts, landing on the kelp belt and knife around his chest. Na stared at the hand and Jeno wrapped an arm around the boy’s shoulders, laughing awkwardly.

“He’s, uh... _new_ to O'ahu.” Jeno smiled, ignoring Na’s confused glance.

Taeyong tucked his hand away, realizing his handshake wasn’t going to be returned. “Where from?” Taeyong asked the merman. Jeno swallowed, glancing at Donghyuk and they shared a we-should-have-been-more-thorough look. They couldn’t say he was Donghyuk’s cousin to Hyuk’s brother. He saw Renjun’s smug smile out of the corner of his eye.

“I am Na!” The merman suddenly said in a very punctual way and Donghyuk winced. “I am Korean.” How he stressed words seemed to be completely random, making him sound very excited. Jeno looked at his feet, trying to hold back a snort at Na’s goofy smile.

“Oh!” Taeyong smiled and began talking animatedly in Korean. Na’s face slowly dropped and he looked at the three of them, confused.

Donghyuk finally stopped him, “Hyung.” Taeyong had already begun to slow down when he realized Na wasn’t following along. “It’s sort of complicated, but Na isn’t really Korean. He’s uh…” The three of them shared a look. “It’s a long story.”

Taeyong cocked his head, putting his hands on his hips. _Shit_. “Yeah? Well, I’ve got time.” Taeyong was to well versed in their shenanigans to just let things go anymore, knowing how things tended to domino when it came to the three of them, especially Donghyuk.

“Hyung…” Donghyuk groaned.

“Is he hurt?” Taeyong asked next, looking Na up and down.

Jeno jumped on the chance to change the subject. “He had a really bad fall by the coast,” Jeno informed, trying to sound convincing.

Taeyong’s face almost instantly softened, his hands falling from his side. “Oh no, are you okay?” Taeyong asked, taking a step toward Na. The merman backed up, scooting closer to Jeno’s side, uneasy.

“His English isn’t great,” Renjun said. Taeyong usually trusted Renjun the most out of the three of them and he just nodded at his words.

“Shouldn’t he go to the hospital, though?”

“It’s complicated,” Donghyuk said, biting his bottom lip. “We called Johnny, though.” Taeyong raised an eyebrow at them. “You just have to trust us, hyung,” Donghyuk pleaded.

“Why would I _ever_ do that.”

“Valid.” Donghyuk held up his hand to stop Taeyong from interrupting him. “But, we can explain… if you can just wait.” He smiled awkwardly, holding his hands in prayer and fluttering his eyelashes. “Please?”

“Why can’t you tell me now?” Taeyong crossed his arms, still giving Na a worried look. Jeno wouldn’t blame the man if he was thinking Na was a new “victim” of theirs or something, as Taeyong claimed Renjun had been. Little did he know Renjun was actually the mastermind of most of their plans. Mark on the other hand—definitely a victim.

“It’ll be worth the wait, Taeyong,” Renjun said, using the trust card to their advantage. More time would also allow them to come up with a new cover. “We don’t really have time to explain at the moment, though. We want to make sure to get Na help above anything else.”

Taeyong shook his head, thinking, before glaring at them all individually. “I want to know what's going on before _he_ leaves this house, you understand?”

“Yes, sir!” Donghyuk and Jeno said at the same time, saluting cheesily. Na tried to mimic the movement, but it ended up looking more like a dab. Renjun snorted loudly, trying to play it off as a cough.

Taeyong gently placed a hand on Na’s shoulder and guided him to a stool at the kitchen island. “Is there anything I can do to help?” Taeyong asked them, lifting Na’s hair out of his face to inspect a bruise on his forehead. The merman seemed fixed to the spot, shoulders tense. They just shrugged, not sure what they really could do. Taeyong sighed, letting go of the merman. “Did you guys have lunch yet? Are you thirsty or hungry… or in need of a shirt?” Taeyong asked as he padded into the kitchen, giving Jeno a side glance again.

“I get the message,” Jeno huffed, spinning on his heels and marching toward Donghyuk’s room as Renjun complained they hadn’t eaten yet and would _die_ for one of Taeyong’s sandwiches. Jeno looked over his shoulder before entering the room, catching Na’s worried gaze. The boy looked very small as he watched Jeno leave, brows furrowed. Jeno quickly threw on a shirt and made his way back over, smiling when the merman laced their arms together. Taeyong handed Na an ice pack and Jeno showed him where to hold it on his shoulder.

“So is Na a new ‘ _friend,’_ or..?” Taeyong asked, eyes on the two boys, their bodies pressed together. Taeyong put a kettle on the stove as he waited for an answer, mugs and tea bags waiting on the counter.

“Hm?” Jeno asked when everyone stared at them. He looked down at their locked arms and sputtered, “oh. N-no, we’re not—”

Donghyuk cut him off, “He’s definitely a new ‘ _friend_ ’,” he winked at Taeyong as he used the air quotes, “but they’ve _already_ kissed. So who knows.” Jeno resented Donghyuk’s chaotic energy sometimes, the boy smiling at him shamelessly. Meanwhile, Na was completely oblivious to their teasing, leaning on him and adjusting the dandelion still tucked behind his ear.

“That’s not…we’re not...” Jeno could feel heat creeping up his neck again. Na just seemed to take a liking to him, it’s not Jeno’s fault he was so touchy. Maybe it didn’t help that he sort of enjoyed the contact. Who wouldn't? Na was inarguably handsome, Jeno counseled himself.

Taeyong chuckled, “Okay, don’t stress over it. You just don’t take many girls or boys home, Jeno.” Jeno shrugged, looking at his feet. Though they were just teasing he didn’t really want to talk about his commitment-free love life right now.

Na seemed to almost sense his change in mood and tried to catch his gaze, leaning down. “Hm?” Jeno smiled at the concerned look on the boys face. Na suddenly gasped, catching the dandelion as it fell from his ear. A frown marred the boys face as he opened his hand and looked at the crushed flower. The merman gently set it on the counter. “Sorry,” Na said as Taeyong slid them each a cup of tea.

Na’s face slowly scrunched in pain, the merman absently touching his hurt arm. Jeno wished Johnny would hurry up. “It’s okay,” Jeno assured with a shrug. “It’s not your fault.” He was sure the merman didn’t know what he was saying, but he didn’t like seeing the boy upset.

“So…” Taeyong hummed, opening the fridge and pulling out sandwich materials. Renjun looked way too excited over a sandwich, but he often expressed his jealousy that they got to eat Taeyong’s cooking every day. “If Na doesn’t speak English or Korean, what does he speak?” The oldest asked, obviously uncomfortable not being able to ask directly.

“That’s a good question,” Renjun muttered, shooting Donghyuk a sharp look. Jeno glanced at Na. Did he have a native language? He _had_ to. Even house cats had some form of communication.

“Every answer makes me more curious,” Taeyong chuckled nervously. The kitchen was filled with the loud _thunks_ of the knife hitting the chopping board as Taeyong sliced the homegrown tomatoes. As they sipped their tea the merman copied and gingerly stuck his tongue in it before frowning. Na sniffed the tea as if testing it again before finally putting it down.

Outwardly Na looked very human, but Jeno wondered how different he experienced the world. Could he see the same colors as them? Was his sense of smell different? Though he lost the tail, his fang-like canines had stayed. They didn’t look as out of place as Jeno would have expected, though. The thing that was the most distracting was the gold marks. They looked more like an abstract tattoo than anything, but the color was so shocking. Na as a whole was quite striking. From his handsome features, light golden brown hair, sapphire eyes, perfect proportions, _and_ gold marks he was definitely worth a double take. It was strange… the marks had sparked some sort of nostalgia in Jeno and he just couldn’t place it.

“...Jeno?”

“Huh?”

Taeyong sighed, putting the finishing touches on the sandwiches. “I asked when your mom was supposed to be home.” Renjun rubbed his hands together as Taeyong placed the lunch in front of each of them.

“Oh, I didn’t ask…” Jeno admitted. “I think she was going to Paris this time… so she might stay longer since it’s so far away, ya know?” He didn’t look up, poking at his sandwich instead. Taeyong said something about how his mom had talked about it being a big step and how he hoped it worked out for her, but Jeno didn’t really listen. He was glad Taeyong looked at the bright side, but Jeno felt more and more that no one really understood his feelings about it all. He couldn’t really blame them, though, since he couldn’t make out his own feelings either.

His thoughts drifted away when he noticed Na dissecting the sandwich next to him. He could see the struggle on Taeyongs face since he probably didn’t want to be rude but what the boy was doing to that sandwich was a crime. The merman had probably never seen any of the ingredients before, but it was still embarrassing to watch him looking at a lettuce leaf with such intensity.

“It’s food,” Jeno finally said. He took the leaf out of the merman’s hands and took a bite out of it, chewing to prove his point. The boy’s eyebrows shot up, and he grabbed the half-eaten lettuce, looking at it like it was the cure to cancer.

“Food…?” Na practiced the word quietly before gingerly putting his teeth on the lettuce leaf. Taeyong luckily didn’t comment on the exchange.

Watching him eat was too painfully slow for Jeno, so he instead focused on his own sandwich. On the other hand, Taeyong seemed to be watching the merman out of morbid curiosity as Na slowly picked up the pace while still eating each individual piece separately.

As Na was stuffing the last piece of bread in his mouth, the doorbell rang. They all looked at Donghyuk to go get it but he scoffed, “It wasn’t _my_ idea to invite Johnny.” Taeyong was already at the door.

“Oh, Taeyong! It’s been so long!” A voice carried from the door around the corner.

Donghyuk gaped. “As _if_ ,” he hissed. “Do they really think I don’t know about their ‘dates’? _Pathetic_ .” There was a beat of silence and Jeno had a suspicion he knew _exactly_ what they were doing.

Taeyong laughed at something after they—probably—kissed, telling Johnny to come in. One thing he always noted about Johnny was that he didn’t look like a professional whatsoever. Jeno would guess DJ or artist if he didn’t know the man's occupation. Johnny walked in with a white tank top and open red button-up on, skinny jeans ripped and hair tousled just so. He just carried the unexplainable confidence yet timidness the likes of maybe a substitute teacher. The only thing that gave any indication to the man's occupation was the large First Aid kit he held.

Donghyuk unabashedly disregarded Johnny’s presence, scrolling through Twitter as they all went to greet him. Na stayed put, swallowing the bread and looking Johnny up and down with wide eyes. Na grabbed Jeno’s shirt, holding him back. “He… uh...long,” Na said, holding his hand over his head.

“He’s _tall_ ,” Jeno quickly corrected. Na continued to gape at Johnny as the student walked toward the merman.

“Is this your friend?” Johnny asked, briefly shaking hands with Jeno.

Jeno nodded, licking his lips nervously. Would Na allow Johnny to help? What if he fought? Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. “This is Na.” Jeno gestured. “Na, this is Johnny. He’s here to help with your pain,” Jeno explained to the apprehensive boy, smiling.

Johnny frowned a little. “Just ‘ _Na_ ’?” Jeno shrugged. “He doesn’t speak English?” Johnny crouched down to look Na over, making sure the boy was okay with being touched before gently inspecting the cuts on his legs.

“Only a little.” Jeno bit his lip as the merman flinched away when Johnny touched his hurt arm. The med student hummed. “I think it’s dislocated,” Jeno explained, twirling his shirt between his fingers.

Johnny nodded, meeting Na’s eyes for permission to unbutton his shirt. Taeyong sucked in a breath as Na’s shoulder was revealed. As if seeing it brought Na pain the boy looked away. “It’s really swollen…” Johnny observed. “How long has it been like this? When did he fall?”

Jeno looked at Donghyuk and Renjun, but they were also at a loss. “...We’re not sure.” Johnny raised an eyebrow at him. “He… uh, didn’t come to us until today.”

Johnny looked at them all with a frown before going back to inspecting the shoulder. “The longer this type of thing is left, the harder it is to fix. If you're not careful you could easily break something while trying to help.” Johnny licked his lips. “Something could _already_ be broken, it’s hard to tell like this.” Jeno nodded, feeling a shock of pain from his bottom lip, only to realize he was biting down on it. “Also,” Johnny said, moving to look at the merman’s cuts, “these lacerations are… strange.” Jeno and Renjun exchanged a look, Hyuk just looked more annoyed than nervous. “They look like wire? Like a net had cut into his skin. Look at the checkered pattern,” Johnny whispered, gently pulling at the skin where there were indeed cuts in the shape of little boxes. “You said he fell?” Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow at him. They just nodded, maybe a little too eagerly with the way Johnny looked Jeno up and down suspiciously.

“Can you just hurry up and help?” Donghyuk finally snapped. He deflated a little under the eyes of everyone. “H-he’s hurt just help him.” Donghyuk tried to act nonchalant, blowing hair out of his face.

Johnny didn’t spare the boy a glance. “I’m _assessing the situation_.” Donghyuk gave him a disgusted look, mocking him while the med student focused on the merman. He yelped when Taeyong slapped him on the shoulder. At least Donghyuk had stopped Johnny from pressing the issue of the causes of his injuries since a lot didn’t line up, like the fact his arm injury was old but the cuts and bruises were new.

“Are these the only injuries?” Johnny asked, standing up.

“I’m not sure…” Jeno admitted, hand subconsciously going to the back of the merman’s neck as he looked the boy over. Na seemed to relax a little as Jeno played with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Na.” The boy’s eyes flicked to him. “Is there pain anywhere else?” Jeno asked, gesturing vaguely at his body. The merman pointed at his shoulder. That’s not super helpful…

“Well.” Johnny crouched down and cracked open his first aid kit, sighing. “I’ll do what I can.”

 

-o~0~o-

 

Na could feel his heart beating in his chest, trying to control his breathing as he looked at the mysterious objects in the tall man's white box. Breathing had been nice at first, a lot  lighter than water, but now he felt like he was suffocating. However, Jeno seemed to trust this man and Na trusted Jeno— Jeno had helped him… No one had helped him in a long time.

Na wasn’t sure yet, but he had a theory for why the human had attracted his attention right away with his _interesting_ aura. He just wanted to be a hundred percent sure before he tried anything. But _this_? Was he willing to trust this strange human just to see how far the strangeness went?

As Jeno caressed the back of his neck he didn’t see why he shouldn’t give the man a chance. The tall human, Jaw-something (human names were very confusing), had seemed focused on his arm and scratches after all. Na hoped it was to help because he wasn’t sure it could get worse. He had had his fair deal of injuries, but someone had always been there to help. This was… different. After hurting it initially a couple days before he didn’t dare touch it, every movement painful. The dull pain was a constant reminder of his betrayal, of the face of the merman that had caused it. Could this human fix it? Na knew little of human medicine, but he also knew he couldn’t leave his arm like this. He would surely be fish food within half a lunar cycle.

The nurturing handsome man, Taeyong, was talking again, his nervous body language putting Na on edge. He heard the tall humans name again and ran it through his head, wanting to be able to get the right people's attention if he ever needed it.

Johnny was nodding, looking Na over again. What were they saying? Surely it was about him if their gazes said anything. _What were they saying?_ It was beyond maddening that Na could only pick out a few words, having no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

Jeno was suddenly in front of him, talking in that comforting tone again. Na blinked at him, taking in his handsome features while he tried to pick out what Jeno was trying to say. He heard Johnny’s name “help”, “pain” and “okay?”. Na nodded, hoping he was understanding what Jeno was explaining correctly. Na felt he was correct when Jeno sent him a beautiful smile. His smile was really nice, Na noted as he was ushered to stand up.

Na’s nervousness returned when Jeno crouched down, bring Na with him to the middle of the floor. “Huh?” Na tried, confused as Jeno gestured at the floor. Johnny appeared at his injured side, speaking softly as Jeno began coaxing him to lie down. Why is he lying down? What were they doing? Na’s hand searched for Jeno as Johnny gently pushed his head to the ground and made him look away from his hurt arm. Jeno grabbed his hand tightly, smiling and laughing nervously at something Renjun said. Na tried to look at what Johnny was doing but Jeno touched his cheek, gently pressing him to the ground again and talking to him. Na’s heart was thundering, nerves making him tense up as Johnny grabbed his hurt arm.

He whimpered when Johnny began to straighten out his arm, squirming. Na glanced at what they were doing and his breathing picked up speed, his hurt arm gripped firmly in the tall man's hands. It _hurt_. Na couldn’t help whining as Johnny continued to guide his arm slowly away. Jeno kept trying to hold him down and Na knew they wanted him to sit still, but it felt wrong. He was repeating a word over and over again, “relax, you need to relax.” What did any of that mean?

It was hurting more the man moved it and he felt his eyes getting wet. What was coming from his eyes? Na was distracted and didn’t realize Johnny had put a foot against his rib until the man began _pulling_.

Jeno was talking to him again, gripping his hand tightly. He struggled against Jeno, wanting the pain to stop, but his grip was tight.

Na felt something _pop_ and a cry escaped his throat.

He arched his back, eyes squeezed shut as his body seized with piercing pain for a brief second before he was able to collapse to the floor again. Na panted, suddenly exhausted. The whole thing was all over in only a few moments.

When he opened his eyes again Jeno was hovering over him, brushing hair out of his face. “Are you okay?” Na understood that. He just whimpered, the pain subsided to a dull ache as Johnny gingerly laid his arm on his stomach again. Jeno gently helped Na to sit up and the merman couldn’t help leaning his head on the human’s shoulder, limp. He tried moving his arm a little, relieved it didn’t hurt to do so anymore, just felt extremely sore. His arm was guided into a sling, a much softer and well-made sling than Na would ever be able to make. Humans were very crafty.

Johnny said something to Na and Renjun gave him a thumbs up over the healer’s shoulder. _Oh_. He was saying “Good job,” Na put together. He scowled at the tall man, upset over the unexpected pain. His arm felt loads better, but that wouldn’t stop him from holding a grudge for the lack of consent involved.

Jeno tried to get him to stand but he refused, leaning on the human’s leg instead. The man huffed loudly and Na squeaked in surprise when there were suddenly arms behind his back and under his knees, lifting. He clung to Jeno with his good arm, noticing how pink the boy’s ears suddenly were. Could all humans do that? He had only seen Jeno’s skin turning pink so far. Was it a defense mechanism?

Na held tightly to him as Jeno set him down on some sort of long cushion chair. He sunk into it comfortably. He quickly stopped Jeno from leaving and it was the human’s turn to be surprised as Na yanked him down next to him. Someone laughed as Na laid his head on the man’s shoulder, reaching out with his mind to charm Jeno just enough so he wouldn’t try to escape. He hummed as the man relaxed, eyes threatening to flutter shut.

Na had noticed that with Jeno the charm seemed to almost go both ways, the merman finding himself caught in echoes of his own spell. When he had tried to free himself by charming Jeno into a kiss, he had found himself also wanting to kiss the boy. Now he couldn’t help melting into the human’s chest. It was _very_ curious.

Finally sitting down made Na realize that he had been awake for so long… so very long. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt safe enough to shut his eyes for longer than a few moments in days. So it was all too tempting to allow sleep to consume him as Jeno wrapped an arm around him, playing with his hair again.

He groaned when someone poked at his legs, annoyed. Cracking an eye open, he saw Johnny sitting next to him, setting Na’s legs on his lap. He wanted to sleep so badly but as the human began rubbing something cold and soothing on his cuts his nerves kept him awake. He was in a new place with humans he had just met today, he shouldn’t let his guard down to much. Na even refused to take the small tablets they tried to offer him till Jeno took one to prove they were safe, saying “painkillers” over and over again.

Though Na had little previous interactions with humans, he had heard enough stories to know he had already been too lenient. Humans often feared what they didn’t understand and Na’s people definitely scared them. Many Merfolk had been harmed or killed before when interacting with humans, such meetings as what Na was doing now were _forbidden_ in his pod. Or at least they had been, before…

Na squeezed his eyes shut, pushing the thought away before it could become clear in his mind. He couldn’t think about that right now. He needed to focus. Stay awake and make sure he wasn’t going to be harmed. Though he felt he could trust Jeno, many humans didn’t think alike and he had no idea what any of them were really thinking.

Just because he wanted to trust doesn’t mean he should.

 

-o~0~o-

 

As soon as Na had stopped Jeno recognized he had been seduced again. Well, not seduced, per say, but _charmed_. Although the fog in his mind wasn’t as thick as when he had kissed the merman, it was still a very distinct feeling. He had instantly bent to Na’s wants, which only became more and more terrifying every time, even though so far they had been harmless. He wanted to bring it up to the merman, but that would be hard with Na’s current language proficiency.

He also wasn’t sure he could get mad about it, not with Na trying desperately to fight sleep on his shoulder. The merman hadn’t seemed to understand what they were doing when Johnny relocated his arm and Jeno felt guilty, like he had caused Na’s tears himself. Maybe he could let the charm slide...

Johnny explained to Jeno and Taeyong to make sure Na kept the cuts clean and that it would be best to leave them without bandages, as his injuries were already scabbing well. Na moved to curl up under his arm and throw his legs over Jeno’s as soon as Johnny let him go, seeming relieved to be away from him.

“How long till his arm is okay?” Jeno asked, fighting the instinct to rest his chin on the merman’s head.

Johnny sucked in a breath. “Probably a month?” He seemed to estimate. “It’s different for different people, but it seems to have been injured for at least a day or possibly two, so… it could take longer than if he had come in right away.” Jeno sighed. How was he supposed to explain that to the merman? Surely the boy would want to leave, especially after that ordeal.

“ _Fantastic_ ,” Donghyuk said quickly. “Thank you for helping, Johnny.” His smile didn’t reach his eye. “We’ll call you if anything comes up, okay?” What could Donghyuk possibly have against Johnny to want him to leave so eagerly? Surely it couldn’t be _just_ the fact he was dating or hooking up with Taeyong or whatever. However, Donghyuk _was_ protective, as much as he wanted to appear nonchalant. Jeno could understand to some extent, Taeyong was the only family he had, much like Jeno and his mom.

Taeyong’s brows furrowed, obviously annoyed, but the older brother just took a deep breath and stood up. “I need to talk to the boys, but I’ll see you around. Okay?” Taeyong said, smiling up at the med student.

“Really, thank you,” Jeno added, not able to move with the merman practically sitting in his lap. “I owe you.”

“ _We_ owe you,” Renjun added, still standing awkwardly next to a pissed Donghyuk, who rolled his eyes.

Johnny shrugged, running a hand through his hair. “It’s nothing, really.” Jeno had to admit the guy was pretty cocky. “Anything for the Lee’s.” Johnny was looking at Taeyong. Jeno saw why Donghyuk had a vomit emoji next to his name.

Donghyuk crossed his arms. “Just kiss and move on.” Taeyong glared at the boy, suppressing some sort of retort. Johnny just laughed nervously, taking a few cautious steps back.

“I’ll come check in, in about two weeks. Is that okay?” Johnny asked as he closed his first aid kit, walking toward the door.

“Sounds _great_!” Donghyuk leaned forward and gave a small mocking wave.

As soon as the door closed Taeyong turned on his younger brother. “You little—” Taeyong pointed at Donghyuk, fires blazing in his eyes. “We need to talk.” Donghyuk pursed his lips in an aggressive pout and looked away, both of them appearing equally upset. Jeno sighed, knowing very well Taeyong had no issue telling his brother off in front of others. “I _know_ you don’t like Johnny—for whatever _Donghyuk_ reason of yours,” Taeyong made a broad gesture and Donghyuk began tapping his foot anxiously, “but no matter _who_ it is if they’re a guest you welcome them! Have you lost your _Aloha Spirit_ ?**” Jeno knew Donghyuk didn’t like being yelled at and he could practically see him growing tenser. “ _Your_ friends asked him to help and he _graciously_ offered his time and services! You can’t just—”

“Na’s a mermaid!” Donghyuk blurted loudly as an instinctual attempt to save himself. His eyes went wide as he realized what he did, hands shooting to his mouth as they all went still like deer caught in headlights.

“Don’t change the sub—Woah. Wait,” Taeyong sputtered. “Excuse me, _what_?”

  
  
  
  
  
  


 

 

 

  


* * *

 

* _Flying bridge_ is an open area on top of a boat which provides unobstructed views of all sides of a boat and is also a working steering center for the captain. Big “on top of the world” vibes.

 

** _Aloha Spirit_ is not only a way of life in Hawai’i, but so important it's a law written into the Hawaiian government. It simply asks people to be aware of self and the world around them, and emote good feelings to others. In this context: hospitality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How will Taeyong react 0.0???  
> Who injured Jaemin's arm??  
> Wtf is up with Jeno 'strangeness'??  
> Find out next time on... *drum roll*... _Three Dumbasses and a Fish_
> 
> In all seriousness, I hope you liked this chapter! I know it's long, and RIP Renjun's moments. He'll shine in the next chapters I promise!  
> Also!?!??! 30 kudos!! Thank you so much! It makes me so happy acjdfhduhidjsknd
> 
> Want more of my writing for some reason? Check out my Twitter for updates and my other stories:  
> @Shadowdrifter2
> 
>  **Let me know how you guys like this long chapter and any predictions you have or things you'd like to see! Your comments make my day, no joke, I feel 1000x better when I see what you guys have to say.**  
>  _Leave some kudos and love!_  
>  I hope you have a great day~


	3. Wash Away Your Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Different in all the right ways

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, I missed yall T^T  
> Enjoy~

_“Na’s a mermaid!”_

_“Don’t change the sub—Woah. Wait,” Taeyong sputtered. “Excuse me,_ what _?”_

  


Na, even as exhausted as he was, didn’t miss the sudden switch in the atmosphere. He looked over the boys’ faces and noticed the pure horror in their expressions and wished he had paid a little more attention to what had been happening. He probably wouldn’t have known what they were saying anyway…

He heard his name and his eyes quickly flicked to Taeyong. The oldest was making an expression of bewildered annoyance and repeating a phrase, the only word Na understood being ‘ _what._ ’ Donghyuk stumbled over his words and laughed in a way that made clear to even Na he was lying and doing a bad job at it. Renjun and Jeno’s head were snapping back and forth as the two bickered. Taeyong appeared angrier by the minute while Donghyuk tried to weave his bad lie.

Taeyong scoffed loudly and Na held his breath as a sudden silence stretched on and the boys exchanged worried glances. Taeyong looked at their tense faces and his eyebrows slowly lifted from anger to confusion. “You ——  think Na’s a ———?” Na hated that he could barely pick out anything and was even angrier because they were talking about _him_. What if they were debating over to harm him or not? Should he trust Taeyong? Would Jeno protect him?

Renjun replied and Taeyong’s expression returned to annoyance. The man was about to say something when Jeno spoke up, his chest vibrating beneath Na. “—  — —— tell him?” Tell him what? What had Jeno said?

Both Renjun and Donghyuk shot him a betrayed scowl. Taeyong had turned his hard gaze on Jeno, his smile nothing less than threatening. “Tell me what?” Na understood that. They must have been in trouble or caught in a lie. Maybe it was their well being on the line, not his.

Behind the oldest, Donghyuk was vigorously shaking his head and Renjun was pointing at Jeno and then making a threatening chopping motion at his neck. Jeno didn’t even look at them, glancing at Na and catching the boy’s eye for a split second before he met Taeyongs eyes and said something you would think was blasphemy with the response he received. “Na’s a ——— .”

Na jumped a little in surprise as both Donghyuk and Renjun screamed.

“JENO!”

“DUDE!”

Jeno shrugged around Na defensively, hands out. “ _What_? It’s the ——!” Jeno and the boys bickered in not-so-quiet hissed whispers, gesturing wildly while Jeno took a defensive physique.

“Wait,” Taeyong said sharply, instantly ending the bickering. “You _really_ think Na’s a mermaid?” _Mermaid!_ Na caught the word that time. What did it mean? They kept saying it!

There was a long silence and suddenly Donghyuk shrugged. “Yeah, hyung.” Taeyong looked to Renjun as if the boy was his last hope, but the lie seemed to fall apart as Renjun nodded. Taeyong looked very lost. Since they had stopped screaming, Na found it hard to focus as their words became more complicated.

He caught something as Taeyong slowly said, “you guys aren’t doing drugs right?” But he didn’t know what it meant. However, they seemed to quickly shoot down whatever he said so Na lost interest again.

Jeno was talking for a while, gesturing at Na. At some point the boy pulled up Na’s shorts a little to reveal his marks, pointing at them. Self-conscious under everyone's eyes, he clung a little tighter to Jeno while trying to pull his shorts down. Were his marks bad? He had always been told they were pretty... Did humans find them ugly? He hadn’t seen any humans with their own marks yet. He wondered if they even had any. How did humans tell what family and pod another belonged to without it? Why did his suddenly matter? Maybe it some sort of proof he wasn’t one of them...

His thoughts became irrelevant as Taeyong sat down on the coffee table in front of them, holding his head in his hands. Na got off the Jeno’s lap to sit next to him. He didn’t want to be between Jeno and Taeyong, unsure what the oldest’s intentions were or what the human’s unstable state would mean for Na.

Donghyuk suddenly yelled excitedly and pulled out a small light up brick that Na noticed they all had. Taeyong dragged his hands down his face as he turned to look at the object Donghyuk presented to him. Na watched with curiosity as many emotions passed over the man’s face and his eyes flicked from the brick to Na over and over again as Donghyuk talked smugly.

“Holy shit,” Taeyong breathed. Na had heard that directed at him enough to gauge its meaning. Na leaned back a little, surprised as Taeyong presented the brick to them. Jeno didn’t seem afraid of it and was nodding, talking and gesturing at the light brick while Taeyong’s eyebrows shot up. Meanwhile, Na bravely leaned closer to inspect the strange emotion inducing object. His eyes went as wide as saucers as he realized that it wasn’t just light but contained an image!

He let out a little surprised gasp, completely forgetting the serious mood and grabbing the brick. It was so heavy! He turned it around in his hands to try to understand where the image was coming from and smelled it, but it only smelled of Donghyuk. Na inspected the side that was showing him the image and almost dropped the thing in surprise as he noticed there were _people_ in the brick! Wait… those people were Jeno, Donghyuk, Renjun and… and himself! He made a few noises in confusion. “Me! Me?” Na asked Jeno, not actually waiting for a response. How? What was this brick and how did it copy them?

Na didn’t register Jeno’s touch as he pet his hair and smiled as the merman sputtered in confusion, checking the back of the device again. It wasn’t a mirror either… Na looked up at Taeyong, gripping the phone closely. The image had captured Na while he was in his natural form. Did that mean Taeyong knew? B-but what if… what if they hurt him? He wasn’t like them after all...

The man in question had been watching him carefully, but now their eyes met and Na could sense the fear coming off of him. ‘ _When humans fear something, they will often try to get rid of it._ ’ Na tensed, his back straightening as he stared back, fear now recuperated.

Taeyong sighed loudly and hung his head again. Na came to his senses and leaned on Jeno as he thought, _If fear means possible pain or even death then he shouldn’t do anything that might breed fear._ “You scared?” He suddenly asked the oldest, regretting the spontaneous aspect once Taeyong froze, caught off guard. Na looked to the boys as he talked, trying to remember words, “I… not hurt you.”

Taeyong swallowed and pointed at the brick and image. “You?” He asked Na. He looked at the image and nodded after smiling at the photo. How had they captured such a thing?

Na hummed as he tried to summon more words, working hard. “Jeno, Donghyuk, Renjun… uh… help me,” Na said, smiling brightly to try to diminish the tension even though he knew he wasn’t saying everyone's names right.

Taeyong sucked in a breath before exhaling slowly. “Holy shit. Na’s a merman.” The oldest eyes unfocused.

Na looked at Jeno, eyes large. “Mer...merman?” Na finally asked now that everyone had calmed down. Jeno pointed at Na and nodded, repeating the word. Na was a ‘merman?’

He pointed at Jeno. “Merman?” Donghyuk laughed but Jeno patiently shook his head and pointed at the light brick, specifically at Na. Humans were very confusing. He frowned but didn’t press any further as he was distracted by the change in the oldest’s aura.

Na could feel the aura shifting around Taeyong as he sat with his hands buried in his hair. His shoulders were tense and he was absently playing with a loose string in his jeans. Stress and… turbulence? Alarm bells went off in Na’s head, not only for his own safety but because he dreaded those feelings and hated seeing them inflict others.

Without thinking, he reached out and placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. Na allowed his mind to fall into absolute quiet, attracting Taeyongs eyes. He was able to position his hand over the man's heart, smiling gently while searching his gaze. ‘ _New things aren’t always bad things_ ,’ Na suggested. Luckily, Taeyong’s consciousness graciously accepted the idea and Na blinked, breaking the connection.

He settled back into Jeno happily as the man was visibly more relaxed, blinking at him in surprise, but calm. “What was _that_?” Taeyong asked, hand going to were Na’s had been.

Na only gave him a little thumbs up while exhaustion set in, heavier now that he had charmed so many times in a day. He laid his head on Jeno’s shoulder, blissfully unaware of the awestruck expressions on everyone's face. While they were all mystified by his abilities, he was too focused on trying to keep his eyes open to notice.

He _felt_ Jeno talk more than he heard him, the vibration like a purr that was lulling his eyes closed. He jolted himself awake. No sleeping! Not yet… he had to make sure he was safe… _but_ maybe he would risk it for a quick nap. Just to shut his eyes for a second...

 

~o~

 

“What was _that_?” Taeyong breathed, eyeing the merman curiously. “Did he just… calm me down?”

“That’s a new one,” Jeno responded simply, trying not to be surprised by Na’s new tricks. He was more than a little relieved that he wasn’t the only one who could be affected by Na.

“You got off easy,” Donghyuk said smugly. “Jeno was charmed into a kiss.”

“You guys actually kissed? I thought he was joking.” Taeyong turned to them, before shaking it off and moving to the real question. “He’s got _powers_?”

Jeno nodded, picking at his shorts while a blush crept up his neck. “I wouldn’t call them _powers_ , but it seems like that. Yeah…” He was glad Na didn’t know what they were talking about. In fact, the merman didn’t seem to even be listening, eyes unfocused and eyelids heavy. Was helping Na even smart? The merman seemed to be a bundle of surprises after all…

As Jeno played with his pants nervously, he noticed the golden marks on his palm again. He squeezed his hand shut. Maybe it’s best not to mention it to Taeyong, not wanting to worry him on top of everything else.

“He’s a merman so whatever goes I guess…” Taeyong laughed a little, running a hand through his hair. They sat in silence for a second before Taeyong sighed. “So… What are you going to do?”

“Hm?”

“With Na.”

The man in question shifted a little at his name before stilling again. Jeno shook his head a little. “We’re not sure. He hasn’t tried to leave yet, and he needs to heal, so it would be best if he stayed for a while…”

Taeyong chuckled. “No. I mean, it’s Sunday.” They blinked at him. “You guys have school tomorrow. What are you going to do with him?” They groaned, having completely forgotten. “Also, he doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere any time soon.” Jeno looked down and noticed Na had closed his eyes, head laying on his shoulder and chest rising and falling slowly—fast asleep.

  


* * *

  
  


Jeno felt his phone buzz in his lap quickly opened it covertly under his desk, his leg bouncing nervously.

 

_Jeno, idk what ur worried about. Ur in class FOCUS._

**Taeyong-hyung please!!!**

_Calling me ‘hyung’ won't make me answer you._

_Also, it’s ‘hyeong’._

_Learn Korean, Jeno._

**U just answered me lol**

_Read at 12:08_

**Ur definitely related to Hyuk smh**

**Don’t ignore me :(((((**

**Come back, ily <3**

_If I update u (for the millionth time btw) will u stfu?_

**I promise!! :))))**

_Fish boy._

_Is still._

_Here._

**That’s it? :(**

_That’s what u really want to know right? He hasn’t run away and seems quite adamant about asking me every COUPLE MINUTES when u’ll return._

_Now focus._

**Pics**

**Pics or it didn’t happen**

_I just showed him how to boil water_

_I don’t think he’ll understand the concept of a selfie._

**Pics. or. It. didn’t. Happen.**

**??? how long does it take**

**R u ignoring me?**

**:(**

_He wouldn’t comply with a selfie so here he is, absorbed in helping me cook_

_[Image attached]_

 

Jeno smiled dumbly at the photo Taeyong sent. Na was standing next to the stove stirring a pot of pasta, face crinkled in focus and awe. The merman had on one of Taeyong's many aprons—a birthday present tradition—this particular one saying _Mr. Good Lookin’ is Cookin’_ on the front. Good choice.

It was a relief that Taeyong seemed to be fine watching the boy on his day off, because last night Jeno could have sworn that the merman was going to make Taeyong have a mental breakdown. Though he had calmed down—ironically thanks to Na’s help—the oldest had begun littering them with questions. Over dinner they all tried to tell Taeyong the same story over each other, trying to get to the best parts of the whole day. Yet it came to an end all too quickly, the house falling into silence.

When Donghyuk returned from dropping Renjun off, Jeno had brought Na to the bed he had in Donghyuk’s room. The merman had passed out and hadn’t woken up since so Jeno carried him, but the boy was surprisingly light. He experienced a weird flash of déjà vu as he laid Na down, pulling a blanket over him. His father used to do the same to him when Jeno would fall asleep in their old armchair while watching a show late into the night. Nowadays he would just wake up with a bad kink in his neck.

Jeno decided he would sleep on the couch since the exhausted merman deserved a proper bed.

Jeno thought he wouldn’t have trouble falling asleep as he was exhausted, but he found himself wide awake and staring at the dark ceiling as the clock ticked away. The pond out back was reflecting the moonlight in watery ribbons above him and he found himself deep in thought as he watched them dance around.

He wasn’t sure why, but Na triggered memories that he had repressed after his father passed away. Maybe it was because of the stories his father told of mermaids or his love for the water, but whatever it was, Jeno couldn't stop thinking about him. The memories were so vivid, he felt like he could taste the salty breeze on his tongue from so many times past. He remembered falling off the boat as a kid and having his dad dive in after him. His smile when Jeno finally came out as bisexual and the hand on his shoulder. His dad’s laugh whenever he told a lame joke, always the most supportive.

The more he tried to sleep, the more clear his face would seem, but as soon as Jeno really tried to focus, the image would fade away. All he had now was just pictures and flashes of memories.

Jeno didn’t realize he was crying until a tear dropped loudly next to his ear. He whipped his eyes, sniveling and feeling embarrassed even though he was all alone. _“Grief is a long road.”_ He could still hear the words of his grandma at his dad's funeral. Isn’t a year too long to grieve? Can’t he just _forget_ instead?

Jeno ran a hand down his face, trying to calm down and stop crying. It was already 3 am. He needed to sleep. Sleep and forget.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a looming figure in the dark hall and nearly jumped out of his skin. “Fuck!” he yelped, before noticing Na’s features in the moonlight. The merman rubbed his eyes, also startled. “Na?” Jeno noted with awe that Na had little patterned luminescent spots on his forehead and cheeks, running down his neck and around his arms and legs in swirling lines like dazzling constellations. They were small and few, easily missed at a glance, but it was still mystifying.

“Jeno,” the merman mumbled, eyes alert as he became aware that he had frightened Jeno. “Scared?”

“No,” Jeno lied as he cleared his throat, sitting up. “What are you doing up?”

Na didn’t respond, instead shuffled over, eyes going wide as he noticed Jeno’s watery eyes. The merman crouched down and touched his cheek, running a thumb through a tears trail. “Name?”

“Uh, _crying_ ,” Jeno said, blushing. He sniffed and tried to wipe his eyes, but Na stopped him, frowning.

“How? Why… crying?” Jeno stared at him before realizing that you can’t really cry underwater. Na probably had no idea what it meant.

“You cry when you’re sad,” Jeno said, not knowing how to properly explain it with Na’s limited vocabulary. “When you’re scared, or sometimes happy.” Na seemed to understand to some extent because his expression softened and he ran his thumb over Jeno’s cheek again. He desperately wanted to lean into the touch, heart aching.

Na opened his mouth to say something before sighing, not having the words. Instead, he grabbed Jeno’s blanket and threw it open, crawling on the small couch with him and pulling the blanket around them. Jeno was as still as stone as Na wrapped his good arm around his waist, breath tickling Jeno’s collarbone. “Okay?” the merman asked, voice muffled and already drowsy.

“Uh…” Jeno sniffled one last time before he let out all the air in his lungs and relaxed into the merman’s embrace to release all his worries. He breathed in Na’s salty hair, moving to hug him close and subconsciously tangle their legs together. He felt Na’s gentle heartbeat against his chest. “Yeah, this is okay. This is...” He sighed, whispering a soft, “thank you,” into the night.

 

“Is that your newest boyfriend?” Heejin, his desk mate, teased as she chewed gum loudly.

Jeno hadn’t realized that he was sitting with his phone open in class while deep in thought and set it down. “N-no. I don’t date people anymore.” Jeno helplessly noticed that the math lesson had moved very fast and the teacher was erasing the board already to put the next problems up.

“Uh-huh. You say that, but you’re making heart eyes at a photo of some cute boy I’ve never seen. Does he go to a different school? Oh! Is a he a _Punahou_ kid?” Heejin whispered in curiosity as Jeno tried to find where he was in his notes. “If you’re not dating him, maybe you can help a girl out,” she said, winking. “Unless you're planning to tap that or already called dibs, whatever guys do.”

“Haha,” Jeno was used to the teasing and rolled his eyes. “No.”

“Then I would gladly take his number off your hands.” Heejin smiled.

“He doesn’t have a phone,” Jeno deadpanned in response. She looked scandalized at this news. “Can I copy your notes?”

“After lying so blatantly like that, fuck no.” Heejin crossed her arms and huffed. Jeno snorted because though it sounded like a lie, it was very true.

“If you let me copy your notes I’ll give you Lucas’ number,” he bargained.

Heejin’s eyes lit up. “Lucas from the swim team?”

“The one and only.”

She slid her paper over and gestured for his phone. “Deal.”

  


 

* * *

  
  


“ _Sorry guys, I have speech and debate. "_

Donghyuk and Jeno sighed loudly, sitting in Jeno’s Jeep in the school parking lot with Renjun on the phone. “You can’t just skip?” Donghyuk suggested.

“ _I’m the captain of the team and we have a thing coming up, so naturally I should skip_ ,” Renjun said sarcastically. “ _No. I can’t skip, Hyuk._ ”

“Your loss,” Jeno said, starting the car.

“ _You’re acting like I don’t want to hang out with a merman. It’s just, my_ nainai _* will kill me if I miss another meeting._ ” They heard him sigh over the line _._ “ _Just let me know what happens, I guess_.”

“Come over when you’re done! I love you!” Donghyuk said over the sound of the car as Jeno left the parking lot.

“Bye!” Jeno added.

“ _Okay! And ew. Have fun with Fish Boy._ ” Renjun hung up before Jeno could stubbornly correct him, refusing to refer to Na as Fish Boy.

“I feel like Punahou kids have no life,” Donghyuk huffed, putting the aux cord into his phone and scrolling to find the perfect song. Jeno hummed in agreement. Renjun didn’t go to their same private school**, but they often drove by his school so it was easier to pick him up and hang out. More often than not, he was studying, and as the school year was coming to a close there was a lot of last-minute transcript polishing for college applications and people rushing to finish their senior projects—not just for the top private school kids either. Jeno was stressed as well, with only a couple weeks of school left he was trying to catch up on missed assignments, unsure of when the school year had slipped away from him.

Na was a perfect distraction from all that, and Jeno couldn’t hold back his excitement as they pulled into the driveway. As they opened the front door, they were bombarded by _Don’t Stop Me Now_ by _Queen,_ and as Jeno padded into the main room his face pulled up into a large smile from the spectacle before him. Taeyong was playing air guitar with a soup spoon while Na aggressively head banged, both of them dancing like fools. They hit the chorus and the two broke into song, Na surprisingly keeping up well.

Jeno felt like life was in slow motion as Na bounded around, singing along happily. His fluffy hair whipped around his face as the merman’s head turned to Jeno, a massive smile pulling on his lips.

_Na is really something beautiful._

“Jeno!” The merman screeched over the music, bounding over and jumping on him. Jeno stumbled back, his backpack falling on the floor. He laughed as the boy wrapped his good arm around Jeno’s neck. Na pressed a kiss to his jaw quickly, pulling away before Jeno could react. “Dance! Dance!” Na chanted, pulling him into the room and Jeno found himself easily joining the silly dance party.

“You dance like white people!” Donghyuk yelled at them. Taeyong, the dance teacher, purposely danced even more awfully and spun around his younger brother. Donghyuk “reluctantly” gave in and they cheered as he passionately and effortlessly sang the rest of the song.

As Taeyong turned the stereo down they were all breathing hard from the amount of energy poured into the kitchen concert. “What do you guys think?” Taeyong gestured at Na and only then did Jeno register he looked different, too absorbed before in the good mood. Taeyong had raised Donghyuk for years so it’s no surprise he knew how to cut hair, but Na’s haircut looked… fantastic. Before it had been an uneven mess of brittle brown hair, now it looked amazingly plush. Shorter on the sides and back, his hair was parted slightly off the side and came down to brush his eyebrows. His whole face was clear and clean, skin almost glowing. Na also had on a fresh pair of Jeno’s clothes on, ripped jeans and simple white t-shirt a thousand times more flattering than his first outfit.

“He looks...great,” Jeno breathed, squeezing Na’s shoulder as he looked the boy up and down.

“He finally looks human,” Donghyuk added, nodding in appreciation. He quietly added a playful, “and why does he have to be handsome,” under his breath, eyes caught on the way Jeno was looking at the merman. It was the same look he gave Na when they had found the two sleeping on the couch together and the merman was slow waking up, arms high above his head as he started to fall asleep mid-stretch. Jeno didn’t have that look often these days. It was refreshing. “Anyway, how did you get him clean? Did he sprout a tail again?”

Taeyong laughed. “Since I’m not sure how much water it takes for that, I just washed his hair and showed him how to use a washcloth to bathe and he sort of did the rest himself. I’m not entirely sure it’s an _H2O: Just Add Water***_ situation at all. He had two legs the whole time,” Taeyong explained. Jeno nodded while actively holding himself back from smelling the boy's fresh hair. “Also, when I wasn’t showing him cooking I turned on the TV and... Renjun was right, he learns very fast.”

Na nodded. “English not very hard,” Na said, surprising everyone while shrugging and smiling smugly.

“No way!” Jeno squealed, scaring the brothers. “How much have you learned?”

Na hummed. “A good, uh…”

“Enough?” Taeyong offered and Na nodded.

“Learned enough!” Na looked very pleased and Jeno wondered how quickly he would be fluent if he continued to learn at this rate. “I not have, uh, _sound_ language, so new, but not very hard,” Na explained all by himself.

“It’s easier to fill an empty cup,” Taeyong helped, smiling at the merman fondly.

Now that Na had a basic understanding of what they were saying Jeno had so many questions, but he held back. “How do mermaids talk? What’s your language?” he decided to ask as Taeyong ushered them toward the table.

Na thought for a moment before responding. “Moving?” He did a couple strange but simple movements with his hands.

“Sign language?” Donghyuk offered, watching their exchange from the kitchen as he looked for leftovers. Na nodded and pointed at Donghyuk, repeating the word happily.

“Humans have this?” Na asked, eyes wide. “What look like?” Taeyong, who was a dance studio owner and hip-hop teacher had learned ASL to talk to the deaf clients he sometimes got, helpfully showed. “Not as nice,” Na dismissed and Taeyong chuckled.

“Show us then,” Donghyuk challenged, smiling at Na’s attitude.

Na scooted his chair back so they could all see him and began an intricate string of gestures. It seemed to revolve around swirling wrist movements and slight finger adjustments, the short demonstration appearing to ebb and flow like water, with only a few harsh jabs. Only the merman knew what he was saying (which was just calling Jeno handsome but strange and a little stupid—all in good spirit of course). He laughed as he finished, enjoying not being the ignorant one finally. Jeno clapped a little and the merman giggled more, putting his hand over his mouth.

“Sign language, not only language,” Na informed. “Hm… merman sound language only work in water.” Jeno frowned a little. What did he expect? You can’t exactly talk under water.

Donghyuk brought a plate of microwaved potstickers to the table for Jeno to enjoy as well. He kicked his legs up onto Jeno’s lap and peered at the merman. “Have you ever been, uh, _human_ before?” Their questions were vague in their simplified form but Jeno got what Donghyuk was asking.

Na seemed a little confused and pointed at his legs to confirm the question as if asking without words “have I had _these_ before?” As soon as he understood he shook his head. “Never out of water before,” Na admitted, seeming shy about the fact. “Very new.”

“Can all mermaids, uh, merfolk do that?” Jeno asked, pointing at Na’s legs.

Na slowly nodded, seeming cautious. “But, not allowed. Uh… for.. forbidden.” Na chewed on his lip nervously. “We told humans dangerous,” he whispered.

Taeyong chuckled under his breath from where he was leaning against the counter. “You’re not wrong. A lot are.” Na glanced at the older man, pursing his lips in thought.

“Fuck humans! Let’s go live on a boat!” Donghyuk suddenly cheered. He leaned forward, looking at Na and chanting, “fuck humans, fuck humans,” in an attempt to get the merman to follow along.

“Fuck humans...?” Na said, cocking his head.

“Hell yeah!” Donghyuk went for a high five and the merman slowly gave it, still confused but knowing the gesture after being around them enough.

“Hyuk…” Taeyong sighed, rubbing his temple.

Jeno laughed as Donghyuk got out his phone and opened Snapchat while having Na repeat it again with more vigor. “Fuck humans!”

“He’s joking, don’t… don’t say that,” Jeno said helplessly between breaths as he laughed, watching Donghyuk caption the video ‘ _what you’re missing out on’_ before sending it to Renjun.

“He’s gonna lose his shit.” Donghyuk laughed evilly before giving Na another high five.

“What does that mean?” Na asked in perfect English, probably a phrase he had gotten the best at.

“Don’t worry about it.”

The door suddenly banged open and they all spun around to see Renjun taking his shoes off. “What the hell Hyuk,” the man said looking down at his phone.

“Hello to you to,” Taeyong greeted. “Debate was quick today?” he asked.

Renjun set his bag down and shrugged smugly. “We wrapped it up quickly. I guess that happens when the captain _isn’t feeling very well_ ,” Renjun said dramatically before laughing and jokingly flipping his hair in triumph.

“Woah,” Donghyuk breathed. “You’re incredible Renjun, a _real_ madman.”

“Oi, you don’t have to be sarcastic. I didn’t want to make a scene,” Renjun said, making a fake move to hit Donghyuk. The boys stuck their tongues out at each other like children before Renjun plopped down into the seat next to Na.

“How’d you get here so quick?” Jeno asked, noticing a slight pinkness to the boy's ears.

“I got a ride,” Renjun shrugged, grabbing a potsticker from Donghyuk’s leftover plate.

“Oh? From who?” Donghyuk sat forward, suddenly attentive.

“Um,” Renjun scratched the back of his neck. “I ran into Lucas in the hall. He was talking to the Punahou swim captain or something. He offered to give me a ride here since he said he lives nearby.” Donghyuk’s eyebrows slowly disappeared under his bangs the longer Renjun spoke.

Jeno and Donghyuk shared a knowing look. “That’s weird,” Jeno said, trying to act natural. “I’ve been to his house before and I remembered it actually being on the other side of the island… Hm… Maybe I’m wrong.” He shrugged, making himself busy while he tried not to smile.

“Look, that’s just what he told me,” Renjun said, missing the point and getting defensive. “He drove me so whatever.” Jeno didn’t have to look to know that Donghyuk was rolling his eyes. The Chinese boy turned to the merman next to him that had been quietly trying to follow along. “How’s he feeling? Because he looks… wow, he looks really good.”

“He can talk for himself now,” Taeyong explained like a proud parent.

Thus Na greeted Renjun and the boy stared wide-eyed, turning to all of them. “That's insane! How the… Wow,” he breathed, eyeing Na. “You’re amazing.”

Na smiled, pleased with himself. “Not hard,” he said again, shrugging this time.

“I have so many questions,” Renjun whispered.

“I think everyone does,” Donghyuk said.

Renjun turned to Na, “how do you breathe underwater?”

Na processed the question for a second before shrugging at him and simply answering, “breath.”

“I mean, yeah,” Renjun snorted, shaking his head a little. “How though?”

Na raised his hand as he breathed in and lowered it as he exhaled, seeming unsure what Renjun was on about. “Stop asking him dumb questions, Jun,” Donghyuk scolded.

“It’s not dumb! I was just—”

“Did it hurt?” Jeno suddenly asked, the question itching at him while he had been waiting for Renjun to finish. Na raised an eyebrow. He repressed the urge to say ‘when you fell from heaven’ because he knew Donghyuk would tackle him. “Did it hurt when you… turned human?”

Na nodded eagerly. “Yes! Not good time.” They all laughed at his goofy smile, surprised by the excitement in his voice. “You not… turn, right?” He asked Jeno, cocking his head a little.

“Like a tail?”

Na shrugged as if saying “something like that.”

“Um, no… it actually really not normal to be able to do _that_ ,” Jeno admitted, laughing a little at the man's innocence. Na raised an eyebrow before nodding unconvincingly, giving Jeno a little up and down with his eyes.

There was a beat of silence. “I’m not normal?” Na said, sending a worried glance to Jeno. Donghyuk and Taeyong exchanged a look at the sudden change in the tone of his voice, the merman now looking down at his hands. Jeno sat up a little straighter before reaching out a hand over the table toward the man.

“I mean…” he sighed, unsure what sent the man into such a contemplative state so suddenly. “You’re not normal because you’re _amazing_. Na, you’re different in all the right ways,” Jeno said, staring at the man till he slowly brought his gaze up to meet his. It felt weird saying that, having only known the merman for two days, but he was so breathtaking from the little Jeno had seen of him that it must be true. Jeno found himself blushing as the merman gave him a little smirk with his eyes dancing. “If that even makes sense to you…”

Na giggled a little, gingerly taking Jeno’s outstretched hand. With a start, Jeno realized the merman’s eyes were shining with tears and his face was pulled into a grateful smile. “I know… message,” Na said, chuckling a little as he admitted he wasn’t completely grasping the words. He knew what the human was trying to say though, and it was so, so _wonderful_ to hear. Jeno broke out into a smile as the merman touched his own eyes, confused once again by the act of crying. A flustered giggle left Na’s lips, causing the first tear to drop and in turn sending him into a seemingly sudden and uncontrollable fit of sobbing.

None of them could understand why the merman was suddenly breaking down but he fell apart so quickly. Jeno moved around the table to kneel next to him, worried as the boy’s frame shook with his face in his hand while the other held on tightly to Jeno’s. “What’s wrong?” He asked helplessly, trying to see Na’s face behind his bangs.

Na slipped from his chair into Jeno’s embrace, wrapping his good arm tightly around Jeno’s neck. Na’s fingers gripped the back of his shirt as he buried his face into his neck, sobbing grossly. “Na? What happened?” He asked again quietly, holding the merman close to him.

He could barely breathe, much less say anything as he let it all out. Everything flooded out, everything that he had been holding back for the sake of survival. He had been through so much and he couldn’t even begin to explain it, or even had the time to process it. He felt another hand on his back as Taeyong crouched down next to them. Donghyuk and Renjun quickly squished in as well, wrapping both boys in a big hug. The merman was cocooned in their worried arms.

Na sniffled as his nose began to run, taking deep breaths as he tried to control himself. He relaxed a little into Jeno’s embrace as everyone else gave them a little space, sitting around the merman. “Thank you,” Na started with, trying to fit his feelings into the confines of his vocabulary. “Save…” Na broke away a little to look at everyone, gently touching them as he spoke, “you, Donghyuk, Renjun… Taeyong, save me. Help, food uh… roof,” the man gestured at the house. “I am grateful.” Jeno smiled, rubbing the mermans arm. “I give nothing, yet… Thank you,” Na ended, whispering gently as he leaned his forehead to meet Jeno’s, squeezing his eyes shut as more tears spilled out.

They both opened their eyes at the same time, gazes meeting and Jeno couldn’t help himself as he gently caressed Na’s head and pressed his lips to the boy’s forehead. The kiss had the opposite effect he wanted, as Na started crying even harder. Renjun shoved Jeno gently with a quiet “nice going dude,” before Taeyong was suddenly pulling them back into a group hug.

Taeyong rocked them all back and forth as Donghyuk groaned in disgust at the brotherly love. “You’re all my family, scales and all,” the oldest said into their hug, squeezing them in tighter. They all chuckled but didn’t argue, just letting the feeling sink in as the newest member of the Lee clan cried into Jeno’s school uniform.

“If it helps, I was never really _that_ scared of you,” Renjun admitted, making them all the laugh, even the merman hiccuped through his tears.

“I have an idea,” Taeyong said into their huddle. “I have to work tomorrow so why don’t you bring Na to school with you? It’ll be fun.” Jeno hummed in agreement and wrapped his arms tighter around Na as the boy melted into his embrace.  


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* _Nainai_ is Mandarin for _Grandmother_ , specifically on the father’s side.

 

** _Fun fac_ t: Hawaii has some of the worst public schools in the entire US! So almost all kids (who can afford it) go to private schools. The most famous and prestigious of which is Punahou School; aka the k-12 school Barack Obama went to.

 

*** _H2O: Just Add Water_ is a silly 2009 Australian kids tv show about three girls who turn into mermaids with just a drop of water. (If you liked Rikki there is a 100% you’re gay now) This show was Donghyuk and Jeno’s guilty pleasure in middle school after starting it as a joke one sleepover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yall it's a long story for why this is soooo late. To make it short I just started uni and this dumb bitch took 20 credits :))) so anyway I died. Plus this chapter was just a huge writer's block moment for me. However! The term is over and I'm taking fewer classes next term so expect more regular updates. 
> 
> Also, remember when this was originally tagged "mostly fluff" HA yeah that was funny. I try to keep this story fun but I also want to acknowledge real struggles. I promise it won't be like this often, it's just a necessary evil. The soil becomes dry without rain, ya know? (Also shout out to Heejin of Loona in this chapter! Stan Loona uwu)
> 
> Anyway! If yall are curious wtf is taking me so long or want to yell at me or maybe even check out my other stories my writing Twitter is:  
> @Shadowdrifter2
> 
> I also want to say thank you for **100 kudos!** I'm really touched! I was worried this story would have a very specific demographic, but I'm glad so many people like it~~ Thanks y'all ;(
> 
> I want to thank my two wonderful beta readers as well! They really helped me improve this chapter! <3
> 
> Anyway! Please let me know if you like the way the story is going or this drop of angst or not! I love hearing what you guys have to say!! Leave some love and kudos~  
>  _Have a nice day~~_


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